A specific technique known as lepidochromy, which involved pressing butterfly wings directly onto canvases to transfer their scales, defines the legacy of Dutch Golden Age painter Otto Marseus van Schrieck. Born in Nijmegen in 1613, he developed a singular focus on forest flora and fauna that departed from traditional landscape conventions of the seventeenth century.
Early Career and International Travel
Marseus van Schrieck spent the years 1652 through 1657 traveling through Rome and Florence alongside fellow painters Matthias Withoos and Willem van Aelst. During his time in Rome, he joined the Bentvueghels, a society of Dutch artists, where he earned the nickname 'snuffelaer,' or ferreter, due to his obsessive habit of searching gardens for botanical and biological details. His professional trajectory eventually included a tenure as a court painter for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, followed by extensive travels across England and Paris before his eventual settlement in Amsterdam.
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The artist maintained a private collection of snakes and lizards within a shed at the rear of his property and on a specifically walled-in piece of land outside the city. These specimens provided the direct source material for his dark, detailed compositions. His paintings often feature dense arrangements of forest floor vegetation, populated by insects, lizards, and toads. On 25 April 1664, he married Margarita Gysels, the daughter of the engraver Cornelius Gysels.
Artistic Influence and Collaboration
His influence on contemporary and later artists was significant. The Netherlands Institute for Art History records numerous followers including Abraham Mignon, Rachel Ruysch, Elias van den Broeck, and Jacob Marrel. He also collaborated with Alida Withoos, contributing to the garden albums of Agnes Block by depicting the flora of the Vijverhof estate. Van Schrieck died in 1678 and was buried on 22 June of that year in Amsterdam.
Fast facts
- Born: 1613, Nijmegen
- Died: 1678, Amsterdam
- Citizenship: Dutch Republic
- Movement: Baroque
- Membership: Bentvueghels
- Notable innovation: Lepidochromy
- Wife: Margarita Gysels
- Primary occupations: Painter, draftsperson, court painter
Questions readers ask
Why was Otto Marseus van Schrieck called the snuffelaer?
He earned the nickname, meaning 'ferreter' in Dutch, because he spent considerable time in gardens searching for minute natural details.
What is lepidochromy?
It is a painting technique developed by Van Schrieck that involves pressing butterfly wings onto the canvas to leave behind their scales.
Achievements
- Notable work: Plants and Insects
- Notable work: A forest floor with a snake, lizards, butterflies and other insects
- Notable work: Snakes, toads and butterflies
- Movement: Baroque
