HENSTENBURGH, Herman (Dutch, 1667-1726), Still-life with fruit, a snail, a bee, a cabbage butterfly and a tortoise shell butterfly

HENSTENBURGH, Herman (Dutch, 1667-1726).
Still-life with fruit, a snail, a bee, a cabbage butterfly and a tortoise shell butterfly.
Watercolor and gouache on vellum.
Signed lower right: "H. Henstenburgh fecit".
ca. 1700.
10 1/2" x 13 1/4" vellum, 25 1/2” x 22 3/4” framed.

A Quintessential Dutch Still-Life

In a similar way as a butterfly represents the Resurrection, a snail’s spiral reiterates this concept by suggesting endlessness, immortality. With his small, tight brushstrokes, Henstenburgh worked using a trompe l’oeil effect--particularly, the inclusion of a bee may have Greek roots. Philostratus the Elder wrote in his book, Imagines, “The painting has such regard for realism that it even shows drops of dew dripping from the flowers and a bee settling on the flowers--whether a real bee has been deceived by the painted flowers of whether we are to be deceived into thinking that a painted bee is real, I do not know.” By taking a closer look, one can recognize the very same drops of dew resting on leaves and slowly dripping down the stone ledge.