Giovanni Francesco Barbieri was an Italian painter in the 17th century. He is commonly referred to as 'il Guercino' or 'the squinter' due to the fact that he was cross-eyed.
The painting titled "Et in Arcadia ego" is translated to mean "Even in Arcadia am I", and the "I" in question is death. Even in that amorous-pastoral dreamland, mortality lurks - by extension, even when our life is easiest, happiest, most free of any thought of disaster, death may strike us." (Lubbock 2001).
The shepherds in the painting seem to have unexpectedly crossed upon the skull which is accompanied by a mouse and a blowfly. The looks on the shepherd's faces seem to be a combination of surprise and intrigue. Guercino's painting captures the moment of discovery. It is a moment between innocence and the first discovery of human life at an end.
Guercino's addition of a blowfly on the skull is symbolic. It connects life, death, and the insect's connection to human society. The skull represents death, but the blowfly represents the circle of life. Once a life existed, but the blowfly has diminished the evidence of that life as a human. Without stating it, this painting incorporates the important role of the green bottle fly in our lives.
While most people view the blowfly as a vector for human and animal diseases, the importance of the blowfly in society is not often considered. They are nature's cleaning tool, responsible for cleaning up animal and human remains. By adding the blowfly in this painting, it seems to indicate that the death of this person was recent. It's possible the larvae of the blowfly had recently completed cleaning the flesh from the skull. The transformation of the larvae into an adult is all that remains. While a human life has ended, the circle of nature continues.
When Guercino painted this picture in the 17th century, the role of the blowfly in nature must have been understood. It wasn't until the time of Napoleon in 1829 that blowfly larvae was first documented for use in cleaning dead tissue in wounds.
For more information on Giovanni Francesco Barbieri's life as a painter click here.
The painting titled "Et in Arcadia ego" is translated to mean "Even in Arcadia am I", and the "I" in question is death. Even in that amorous-pastoral dreamland, mortality lurks - by extension, even when our life is easiest, happiest, most free of any thought of disaster, death may strike us." (Lubbock 2001).
The shepherds in the painting seem to have unexpectedly crossed upon the skull which is accompanied by a mouse and a blowfly. The looks on the shepherd's faces seem to be a combination of surprise and intrigue. Guercino's painting captures the moment of discovery. It is a moment between innocence and the first discovery of human life at an end.
Guercino's addition of a blowfly on the skull is symbolic. It connects life, death, and the insect's connection to human society. The skull represents death, but the blowfly represents the circle of life. Once a life existed, but the blowfly has diminished the evidence of that life as a human. Without stating it, this painting incorporates the important role of the green bottle fly in our lives.
While most people view the blowfly as a vector for human and animal diseases, the importance of the blowfly in society is not often considered. They are nature's cleaning tool, responsible for cleaning up animal and human remains. By adding the blowfly in this painting, it seems to indicate that the death of this person was recent. It's possible the larvae of the blowfly had recently completed cleaning the flesh from the skull. The transformation of the larvae into an adult is all that remains. While a human life has ended, the circle of nature continues.
When Guercino painted this picture in the 17th century, the role of the blowfly in nature must have been understood. It wasn't until the time of Napoleon in 1829 that blowfly larvae was first documented for use in cleaning dead tissue in wounds.
For more information on Giovanni Francesco Barbieri's life as a painter click here.