Snails in Art

Source: Steinbach's Field Guide "Molluscs"

Since the ancient times purple snails (Murex) have been used by man for the production of the colour purple. The snails have  a gland near their gills where they produce a colour which turns purple when coming into contact with oxygen. To produce a gram of that colour, more than thousand snails are needed. In ancient Rome purple was weighed in gold. Murex, today the scientific name of that snail's genus, goes back to Pliny (Plinius) the Elder, an ancient Roman scientist. Senators in ancient Rome as well as officials like consuls and the equites wore purple stripes of different widths on their togas. Today colours are not made from natural resources but artificially. But remembering the fact that several thousands of snails had to be killed for a gram of purple colour one can easily imagine how many snails had to die only for the toga of one Roman consul. And each official period in ancient Rome needed two of them. In ancient Greece the elite soldiers wore even a tunic completely coloured in purple to frighten the enemy by splendour! Just imagine, how many snails had to be killed for such a tunic!

A picture from the movie Gladiator showing two Roman senators.

In many Oceanic peoples snails, shells and cephalopods are used to produce art, status symbols, musical instruments and even as currency.

Shell jewellery was taken as a symbol of gallantry and richness. In some countries the change was directly from cowry shells to paper money.

But it was not only in the island kingdoms of the South Sea that shells were a part of art. In the Renaissance time Aristotle's works on the “History of Animals” were remembered, where he wrote about the “Malakia”, the soft animals. At that time he only thought about the cephalopods, even today there is the word “malacology” for the biology of molluscs. Alexander the Great, a student of Aristotle's was a great friend of sea's life as well.

The interest for antique matters returning during the Renaissance period the interest in snails and shells also returned. Many pictures and paintings with snails and shells prove that. In Victorian times a collection of snails or shells often was a sign for interest in nature and its artwork.

The perfect coil of a Nautilus which can be calculated by mathematic equations, colours and forms of sea shells found their way into more than one building. And even more than a single student was confused by his professor's asking him for the name of a certain snail and the discovery that it was part of a Paris gravestone's decoration.

The Greek goddess Aphrodite, was born, as said in the legend, out of the shell of a huge clam. Not only that legend shows the binding of the ancient Greeks to the sea that gave them food, and new territory.

The Japanese, also a people with a strong affinity to the sea, saw a relationship between shells and the religion. The triton's horn (Charonia tritonis) is used as a music instrument for opening the path between Humans and the divine world.

Endmond Rostand also knew this shell. In his play "Cyrano of Bergérac" he wrote: "Lyrically: Is this the triton's shell?". Triton was an ancient Greek sea god, subordinate to Poseidon.

Long books could be written about how the snails' and shells' world has influenced man and driven him to highest art performances. But at no time he managed to outclass nature.