Flower Still Life

Halfway up the stem of one of Rachel Ruysch's flowers, a caterpillar is quietly crawling. The bouquet is already being eaten alive. Ruysch was the daughter of Frederik Ruysch, the Amsterdam anatomy professor who kept a private museum of preserved specimens. She grew up drawing from that collection of frozen death. Every insect in every one of her flower paintings is a specific species she knew by name. The Dutch called this vanitas. No matter how perfect the bouquet, something is already at work on it. Now at Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo @toledomuseum