Rachel Ruysch is one of the most well-known painters of
flowers in the history of art (one of her paintings is shown above) and exhibitions
of her work are held today in major art galleries [1,2,3]. Born in The Hague in
1664, but growing up in Amsterdam, she was the oldest daughter of Frederik
Ruysch (1638-1731), a professor of anatomy and botany at the Hortus
Medicus in Amsterdam. This famous institution had many rare and exotic plants shipped
in from the Dutch colonies and Rachel was fascinated by them - and not just
plants, as animals also arrived in shipments.
Clare Bucknell writes [4] : "According to the art historian Marianne Berardi, [Rachel] wanted to impart ‘something about the nature of the nature she was painting’. Her only picture that doesn’t primarily feature flowers or fruit is of a fat Surinam toad, a creature much studied by contemporary scientific societies for its curious reproductive process. Ruysch painted a female of the species with toadlets popping out of its back”. Her illustration is shown below.
The Suriname Toad (Pipa pipa) is a flattened frog (see brlow) that, despite its name, is found widely in the northern part of South America. Living on the bottom of pools, rivers and lake margins where there is much silt and detritus, their flat shape allows them to remain stationary in the muddy substratum and catch passing prey by ambush. Although their appearance has stimulated the curiosity of observers, it is the reproductive strategy of the frog that has provided most interest, as Clare Bucknell [4] points out.
Reproduction in frogs results from external fertilization and that is so in the Suriname Toad. After making clicking calls to attract a female, a male then grips the female in what is called amplexus. This act stimulates the female to lay eggs into the water, where they are fertilised by sperm released the male, but then something extraordinary happens. Aided by the actions of the male frog, fertilised eggs are transferred to the back of the female where they become embedded when the tissue on her back grows to engulf them. When tadpoles emerge from the egg, they utilise reserves from the yolk sac and then feed on particulate material from the surrounding water, while remaining in their individual “pouches” on the female frog’s back. They only leave at the “froglet stage” to lead an independent life (see below).
One can imagine Rachel Ruysch’s amazement.
[1] https://www.pinakothek.de/en/exhibition/nature-into-art
[2] https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/rachel-ruysch-artist-naturalist-and-pioneer
[3] https://thekleschcollection.com/loans/past-loans/nmwa-washington-dc/
[4] Clare Bucknell (2025) On Rachel Ruysch London Review
of Books 47 https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v47/n17/clare-bucknell/on-rachel-ruysch
