Bulletin du Musée National de Varsovie (23.1982)

Piotr P. Paszkiewicz

NOCTURNAL BIRD OF WISDOM: SYMBOLIC FUNGTIONS
OF THE OWL IN EMBLEMS*

The use of animal tliemes for purely decorative or aliegoric purposes is typical of a number
of cultures and civilizations, not just European ones. The phcnomenon also occurred on a wide
scalę in 16th and 17th century Netherlandish painting. Undoubtedly, tapestries using landscape
and animal motifs, the production of which was at its highest in the 16th century, were among
the sources of those representations. Artists — animalists could find patterns for thcir cartoons
in the zoologicaltreatises published inlarge numbers in mid- 16th century and lavishly illustrated
with dcpictions of animals1. Woodcuts creatcd in Antwerp at the turn of the 16th century by
Adriaen Collaert, Nicolas de Bruyn or Marcus Gcrards, whose works were to acąuire considerable
popularity, were eąually important2. The art of Roelant Savery (1576—1639), regarded as one
of the precursors of animalist painting in the Netherlands, as Weil as the art of later, 17th century
animalists: Paul Potter (1625—54), Albert Cyup (1620—91) or Mechior dTIondecoeter, known
as Raphael of the Birds, (1636—95), grew out of this tradition. Although their paintings were
not devoid of narration, which applies in particular to Hondecoeter's art, they hardly encouraged
a search for hidden aliegoric meanings. They are a perfect illustration of the world of animals,
their character and behaviour or, as is the case with Jan van Kessel the Elder (1626-79), they
are studies of individual members ot this world. Hunting scenes, particularly Weil represented
in Flanders, and quite often featuring animals themselves, also belong to this thematic group.

Another source of 17th century animalist representations was mediaeval tradition. In the
Middle Ages, depictions of animals were related to morał concepts as represented by the Pf.y-
siologus, bestiaries, the iconography of the Zodiac, virtues and vices3. An important factor was
the reappearance of the Physiologus in Romę in 1587 and, a year later, in Antwerp, which helped
mediaeval animalist symbolism to be assimilated in the modern period. The numerous editions
of fables by Aesop and Phaedrus, published from 1472 onwards, or the Dialogus Creaturarum
(first published in Gouda in 1480), were also of certain importance5. They conveyed certain
stereotypes of animal behaviour and character and, in addition to affecting emblems, served
as a source for 17th century animalist representations.

Animals most often appeared in an aliegoric function in genre painting. Besides activities
performed by painted characters or meanings carried by selected objects, animals were among
the main elements determining the message of a painting. Their aliegoric fuction is often indicated
either by the position they oceupy in a composition or the action they perform. Quite often,
their presence is dictated •neither by the scenery (e.g. an owi seated on a window sili of a room
or perched on a pole in a tavern or a classroom) nor by the circumstances (e.g. a cat and a monkey

* The present articleis an abridged version of the 3rd Chapter of my M. A. thesis entitled Emblematic and Aliegoric Conlenls
of Animal Representations in 17th century Dnieli and Flemisli Painting — Selected Problems, written under Prof. J. Biało-
stocki^ supervision, whose help I would like to acknowledge. I would also like to express my gratitude to K. Cieślak for
her help in translating Old Dutch texts.

1. M. Beraasikowa, ,,Geneza artystyczna arrasów krajobrazowo-zwicrzęeych z kolekcji Zygmunta Augusta", Studia muzeal-
ne, X, 1974, pp. 21—22.

2. ibid., p. 23.

3. J. Białostocki „Roeland Savcry, jego ludzie i zwierzęta". Biuletyn Historii Sztuki, XXI, 1959, No 2, p. 140.

4. M. Praz, Studies in Seyentcenth-Ccntury Imagery, 2nd edition, Roma, 1964, p. 47, note 1.

5. A bibliography of fables published in the Netherlands is givcn by J. Landwehr, Fablc Books printed in the Low Countries-
A Concise Bibliography until 1800, Nieuwkoop, 1963.

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