The seventeenth century saw the birth of a new sub-genre in Dutch still life paintings. This sub-genre was called Sottobosco and one artist in particular, Otto Marseus van Schrieck, is credited with creating it. Inspired by scientific discoveries of the time, van Schrieck began to paint still life paintings with subjects and settings considered peculiar, or even taboo, for art at the time. While he maintained the traditional Baroque techniques and composition of the Dutch still life, he sought to incorporate subjects from nature that had been looked down on as being inferior and not worthy of consideration for being the subjects of art pieces. These included insects, animals such as reptiles and snails, and plants such as mushrooms. In the seventeenth century, these were still widely considered to be at the bottom of the Great Chain of Being, inferior creatures that did not merit extended thought or consideration. However, with scientific advances like the microscope, the scientific community, and society as a whole, began to consider that even the smallest of creatures could have something valuable to teach mankind if time was devoted to their study. Otto Marseus van Schrieck, who was frequently engaged with the scientific community and knew about the latest theories and discoveries, was one of the first artists to embrace this and began to paint what would come to be known as “Forest-floor still life,” or Sottobosco paintings.
Artist:Abraham van Beyeren
Still Life with Lobster and Fruit
Date:probably early 1650s
Medium:Oil on wood
Accession Number:1971.254
Still Life with Lobster and Fruit by Abraham van Beyeren is a great example of a very traditional Dutch still life painting. Everything in the painting is arranged in a very particular way, not necessarily in a way that is intended to convey reality how it actually would be. Rather, it is arranged and painted with the intention of constructing a believable fiction that the viewer can appreciate for its attention to detail and sense of realness. These are the basic principles behind a traditional Dutch still life.
Artist: Melchior d' Hondecoeter
Peacocks
Date: 1683
Medium: Oil on canvas
Accession Number: 27.250.1
Peacocks by Melchior d' Hondecoeter contains the basic principles of the traditional Dutch still life, creating a detailed and believable fiction for the viewer to enjoy. It also moves the setting outside, yet still in a constructed space, and uses animals as its subject, many of which would have been considered exotic, especially the peacocks for which the painting is named. These would have been socially acceptable subjects for an art piece as they convey status and were seen as valuable.
Artist: Otto Marseus van Schrieck
A Forest Floor Still Life with Mushrooms, a Snake and a Butterfly
Date: ca. 1657
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Private
A Forest Floor Still Life with Mushrooms, a Snake and a Butterfly, one of van Schrieck’s earlier Sottobosco works, does not stray far from the traditional Dutch still life in terms of technique and composition, the viewer still sees a believable scene that is more likely fiction that not. However, when considering the subject of the painting, there is a clear deviation from traditional Dutch still lifes. The focus of the painting is a group of mushrooms with a snake and butterfly. Aside from the butterfly, these would have been considered unusual and undeserving subjects of a painting to the majority of society at the time.
Artist: Otto Marseus van Schrieck
Plants and Insects
Date: 1665
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Mauritshuis
In van Schriek’s Plants and Insects, there is the familiar detailed, constructed fiction meant to convince the viewer of its realness. In addition, there is an increased prominence in van Schriek’s usage of the inferior creatures as subjects. In this work, van Schriek uses light to draw the viewer’s eye to the bottom center of the painting where a showdown between a lizard and a snake is occurring. His inclusion of inferior creatures has not only grown in number at this point in his career, he has also begun to give them the center stage of his paintings.
Artist: Otto Marseus van Schrieck
Still Life with Poppy, Insects, and Reptiles
Date: ca. 1670
Medium: Oil on canvas
Accession Number: 53.155
In his work, Still Life with Poppy, Insects, and Reptiles, van Schriek includes a variety of inferior creatures, yet allows the poppy to ultimately take center stage in this Sottobosco painting. It almost seems as though he is no longer trying to make his case that these creatures are worthy to be subjects of art, but rather he is indicating that they are now established. He does not have to make them the stand out focus, rather, they are now integrated into the piece, accepted as a part of it. These creatures no longer need to fight for attention, but can instead come and go as they please, like the many other subjects of Dutch still life paintings.
Artist: Rachel Ruysch
A still life with flowers, butterflies and a lizard in a dell
Date: ca. 1684
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: The Fitzwilliam Museum
The Sottobosco painting genre does not die with van Schriek. Other artists, such as Rachel Ruysch, take inspiration from his work and continue to paint forest-floor still lifes. In A still life with flowers, butterflies and a lizard in a dell, there is both the signature outdoor setting and inclusion of an inferior creature that make it a Sottobosco painting. However, it is worth noting that Ruysch only includes the one lizard in the bottom corner. However, even with the lack of abundance in inferior creatures, van Schriek’s influence on Ruysch’s work is undeniable.
Artist: Willem van Aelst
Still Life with Carnations
Date: 1682
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Brighton and Hove Museums and Art Galleries
Like many of van Schriek’s early Sottobosco paintings, in Still Life with Carnations, Willem van Aelst chooses to place his subjects front and center. Using light, van Aelst directs the viewer’s gaze to his trio of subjects. He unapologetically embraces the idea of the Sottobosco still life, painting his inferior creatures of choice and giving his viewers a believable look at a scene he could have happened across on a forest floor while out for a walk.
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