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Connections: Bugs

Educator Edie Watts highlights the subtle and surprising instances where bugs are depicted throughout works in The Met collection.
4 min. watch

"I don't know who the mosquito deity was, but I would make offerings to him or her to protect me from bites."

Educator Edie Watts highlights the subtle and surprising instances where bugs are depicted throughout works in The Met collection.

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Art Mentioned

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Hair Ornament, Louis C. Tiffany American, Gold, silver, platinum, black opals, boulder opals, demantoid garnets, rubies, enamel., American
Hair Ornament
Louis C. Tiffany
ca. 1904
Autumn Grasses in Moonlight, Shibata Zeshin Japanese, Two-panel folding screen; ink, lacquer, silver, and silver leaf on paper, Japan
Autumn Grasses in Moonlight
Shibata Zeshin
second half of the 19th century
Flowers and Grasses with a Praying-Mantis, Ryūsa Japanese, Ivory, Japan
Flowers and Grasses with a Praying-Mantis
Ryūsa
late 18th century
Parasol, Schiaparelli French, cotton, wood, French
Parasol
Schiaparelli
summer 1937
Necklace, Schiaparelli French, synthetic, metal, French
Necklace
Schiaparelli
fall/winter 1938–39
Portrait of Napoleon I, baron François Gérard French, Wool, silk, silver-gilt thread (26-28 warps per inch, 10-12 per cm.); gilded pine frame, French, Paris
Portrait of Napoleon I
baron François Gérard
designed 1805, woven 1808–11
Coffeepot (part of a service), Sèvres Manufactory French, Hard-paste porcelain, French, Sèvres
Coffeepot (part of a service)
Sèvres Manufactory
1900–1904
Nose Ornament with Spiders, Gold, Salinar
Nose Ornament with Spiders
Salinar
100 BCE–200 CE
Flywhisk (tahiri ra’a), Wood, coconut fiber, human hair, Rurutu or Tupua'I Island
Flywhisk (tahiri ra’a)
Rurutu or Tupua'I Island
Early–mid-19th century
Headdress (Kapurei), Wood, paint, Sulka people
Headdress (Kapurei)
Sulka people
late 19th–early 20th century
In Fairyland: A Series of Pictures from the Elf-World, Richard Doyle British, Illustrations: color wood engravings and color lithographs
In Fairyland: A Series of Pictures from the Elf-World
Richard Doyle
1870
Portrait of a Carthusian, Petrus Christus Netherlandish, Oil on wood
Portrait of a Carthusian
Petrus Christus
1446
Madonna and Child, Carlo Crivelli Italian, Tempera and gold on wood
Madonna and Child
Carlo Crivelli
ca. 1480
Heart Scarab of Hatnefer, Serpentinite, gold
Heart Scarab of Hatnefer
ca. 1492–1473 B.C.
Mosquito Deity amulet, Green-and-White banded jasper
Mosquito Deity amulet
ca. 712–332 B.C.