Photos / angelos.be

The sacred scramble to reach the most eyeballs puts a patina of news, stocks and Viagra sales on the face of the Internet. But deeper, harder to find without a clue, the quirky parts of life and history can still be found.

One such clue floated to the top edge today, at sepentia -- What made the ceiling of the royal castle in Brussels. The only text, above a series of photos that progressively zoom in on the ceiling of the castle, is the mysterious "there is 1,600,000 pieces."

While the The Royal Palace of Brussels dates from medieval times, renovation and innovation (including bas-reliefs by Auguste Rodin in the Throne Room) have transformed it. The ceiling is a mural called Heaven of Delight by Flemish sculptor Jan Fabre and his crew of 29. The pieces turn out to be the hard chitin wing cases of the Thai Green Jewel beetle. (The chandelier looks a little thick, as well.)

JF: ... I was involved with Heaven of Delight for three years, although actual work on the ceiling took three months. This sculpture/drawing comprises 1.4 million jewel beetle shells. My first drawings in blue ballpoint were created by following insects on paper--the splitting of space. Next, I proceeded to replace the ballpoint line by the insect itself. The shimmering ceiling at the Royal Palace is the apotheosis of my development involving the beetles.

... I first created a wide variety of forms and patterns by gluing beetles onto small surfaces. Then I told my 29 assistants that they could start inventing forms, knowing full well what they would come up with. This process allowed me to discover who was good at what type of pattern. Once I had this information, I could assign different areas of the ceiling to different assistants. Those thousands and thousands of beetles form drawings within the larger drawing, as in my large ballpoint drawings. My sculpture seeks to conquer space.

MA: Where do you get thousands and thousands of beetles?

JF: I obtain the scarabs from universities I have connections with and through the open market. The Sternocera acquisignata used in the Royal Palace is a non-protected species that appears abundantly in certain countries. In Thailand, the beetle is fried for consumption and its shell is discarded.

Since the casings (called "elytra") are collected from restaurants by the bushel (think lobster or clam shells, also made of chitin), I went looking and found them for sale on eBay, 200 for $15 plus $5 shipping.

I did not find a recipe, though.

Wash down with...?I couldn't resist this little sidebar, found while researching the culinary delights of Thai beetles:

Real Cobra Snake & Scorpion whiskey
300ml 37%v/v (74 proof) (Cobra snake with scorpion in its mouth)