Series of Prints with Flowers and Animals in a Landscape c. 1600 - 1605

Editor: This is a print by Johann Hogenberg, called "Series of Prints with Flowers and Animals in a Landscape," dating from around 1600 to 1605. I'm immediately struck by the unusual pairing of the cat and dog seemingly indoors with a much larger landscape with other animals behind them, like elephants and deer. What do you make of this piece? Curator: It’s fascinating, isn’t it? Hogenberg presents us with an opportunity to delve into the role of imagery in early modern society. Prints like these circulated widely and played a crucial role in shaping public perception. The artist seems to deliberately combine the familiar domestic pets, almost like portraiture, with an expansive exotic landscape beyond. It seems to speak to a sense of emerging global awareness that became present in Europe around that time, spurred by trade and colonization, of course. Notice also how the pets have almost taken on human roles or attitudes as they inhabit an interior with an awareness of being looked at. How do you feel the composition serves to emphasize these points? Editor: I see what you mean. The interior space, raised up a little above the landscape almost like a stage, makes the pets look elevated and draws a distinction between domesticated and wild animals, perhaps symbolizing an ordered world imposed on nature. And maybe, because they are not being productive and domestic within that stage setting, they are being satirized as an upper class would be? Curator: Precisely! The landscape provides a backdrop, against which these behaviors and hierarchies are performed. In the context of the early 17th century, these prints often carried a moralizing message, so there’s also that. And it also makes you wonder if this was marketed for collectors and enthusiasts? Or with other purposes? It would be very hard to know now. Editor: It's amazing to think about all the social and historical layers within what at first seemed like a simple image of animals. I never would have thought about prints like this playing a role in European expansion and social commentaries at the time. Curator: Absolutely. Understanding the cultural and political context unlocks deeper meaning within the artwork itself.