But these figures also refer, according to him, to the “passage from life to death”. An artist of the ephemeral, trained at the School of Decorative Arts in Paris and at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Jan Fabre became attached to the theme of nature very early on. He produced several versions of this work: one was exhibited in 2008 at the Louvre Museum, another is on permanent display at the Flanders Museum (Cassel). Jan Fabre’s work shows his fascination for insects or for taxidermy and is similar to contemporary vanitas.
Diane’s cabinet is designed as a tribute to the protective goddess of the hunt. Covered in green silk velvet, it was designed like a jewel case. In connection with the two paintings by Pierre Paul Rubens and Jan Bruegel, the Antwerp artist Jan Fabre imagined the strange ceiling. His installation assembles six owl heads (feathers of ducks, pheasants and partridges) fitted with prosthetic human eyes. For the visual artist, also a writer and director, the owl – nocturnal bird – is an attribute of Diana: the goddess is indeed associated with the night, as the crescent moon that she wears on her forehead reminds us.
