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Course: The Metropolitan Museum of Art > Unit 1
Lesson 7: NaturePalissy, Pilgrim Flask
Met curator Yassana Croizat-Glazer on sensuality in Bernard Palissy’s Pilgrim Flask, probably 1556–67.
View this work on metmuseum.org.
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At1:20, the speaker mentions that the objet d'art was meant to be kept in a, "...cabinet of curiosities...", what is that?(5 votes)
A cabinet of curiosities was a sort of mini-museum of the rare and strange that became popular in the Renaissance and remained so up until the very early 20th century. They could be entire rooms, or a large cupboard or a box. Some owners specialized in collections of sea shells from all over the world, or whatever took their fancy, but the more or less haphazard collections is usually what we think of as cabinets of curiosities. I've seen a recreation of one of them in a modern museum. There was definitely an aspect of "showing off" with these varied collections: archaeological finds, contemporary works of art and expensive souvenirs, exotic animals after a taxidermist had been at work, fossils, perhaps large kidney stones or pieces of clothing from Asia or Africa. Wealthy people would collect these things for their own amusement but also to show their peers, probably telling (sometimes tall) stories of what they were and how they were acquired. They were signalizing an interest and knowledge of the world, and the means to travel or buy the rare items. Apart from that they were not too different from my own collection of oddities in a shoe box when I was young, only on a much grander scale!(6 votes)
At0:35, the speaker says, "I've always been fascinated by amphibians...". My question is where are any amphibians in this video? Snakes are reptiles and sea shells come from invertebrate mollusks.(2 votes)
What the speaker probably meant was that she's always been fascinated by things living in water. The vessel contains images of shells and what look like eels, so that is probably what her comment means. Also, the vessel has a very "ocean-y" feel. Her following comment saying, "I even considered becoming a marine biologist," explains it even more. I believe what she meant is that she's always been fascinated by things that are from (or look like they are from) the sea.(3 votes)
1:20Video transcript
This vessel is not something I would consider conventionally beautiful. But I’ve grown to become fascinated with it, because of the object itself and also because of Bernard Palissy, who created this work of art. There’s something very…almost sensual about the surface of the object. It reminds me of extraordinary vacations spent by the seashore. I’ve always been fascinated by amphibians, and actually contemplated becoming a marine biologist. Palissy created this type of ware, which he called rustic ware; there was nothing like this beforehand. He devoted several years and experimented with this mix of opaque and translucent glazes to bring out the wet, shiny surface. It makes you want to come and caress the snakeskin and to feel the ridges on the shell. And it takes the shape of a pilgrim flask, used by travelers to carry water. But this is no ordinary pilgrim flask. It was rather intended to be kept in a cabinet of curiosities, and reflects the period’s fascination with exploring the natural world. He studied these pond environments very closely, and collected the animals that he found there. He would carve the surface to replicate this humid aquatic environment, with algae and little rocks, and then he would turn his attention to populating that environment. To do that he would create casts, and essentially captured this animal, immersed it in either urine or vinegar until he killed it, and then he would pose it: sunning itself on top of a rock. You can identify so many of the shells: whelks, cockles, moon snails. The object is about this process of life and death. He essentially takes living things, and from that, creates these eternal ceramic compositions, which are very much about his own immortalization. Through these objects, he continues to live on, and his techniques continue to live on in that way.