Papegaaien en fabeldieren 1547 - 1590

Philips Galle created this engraving, "Parrots and Mythical Animals," in the Netherlands, sometime in the late 16th century. Galle lived in a time of great geographical exploration, and Europeans were encountering new cultures, peoples, and animal species. The print blends images of familiar animals, such as ducks and parrots, with what we might now call mythical creatures, like a winged beast with a snake tail. In the early modern imagination, the line between reality and fantasy was often blurred, as travelers brought back wondrous, sometimes embellished, accounts of the exotic "other." These representations of animals, whether real or imagined, reflect a worldview that sought to classify and make sense of a rapidly expanding world. Consider how these images might have shaped perceptions of both the natural world and the cultures from which these exotic creatures supposedly originated. Galle's engraving invites us to reflect on the power of images to shape our understanding of ourselves, and the world we share.