Video: Natural History in Pictures: Exhibition of Scientific Illustration in New York
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The American Museum of Natural History in New York provided visitors with a glimpse into the inner sanctum, the collection of a research library. The Natural History exhibition includes reproductions of scientific illustrations from rare books on natural history.
The Age of Discovery was a very exciting time for those who could afford to escape from the struggle for survival in the harsh reality of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and pay attention to what is happening in the world of science and art. Europeans discovered new lands and sea routes to Africa, America, Asia and Oceania, natural sciences received an unprecedented flow of information that needed research and understanding. Seafarers returned to their homeland with incredible stories about exotic, unlike any other customs, peoples, animals and plants. Their descriptions aroused a burning curiosity in educated society, which in the absence of the Internet and television was not so easy to satisfy.
Before the invention of photography, there was only one way to show compatriots what wonderful overseas creatures look like - illustration. The fine arts, in addition to the didactic and aesthetic components, had two most important functions, which were significantly weakened with the development of new types of information transmission. It served as a source of knowledge about the surrounding world and one of the resources for scientific research. It is on this side of the medal that the exhibition Natural History; 400 Years of Scientific Illustration from the Museum’s Library at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
The exposition consisted of 50 reproductions from rare old books on natural history from the collection of the museum's research library. Exhibition curator Tom Baione explains that museum visitors had a rare opportunity to see some of the artifacts that never left the scientific archive: “Natural history came about because we wanted people outside the museum to know how rich and rare the collection of books is contained here. “When the question arose which works to include in the exposition, we decided that these should be copies that are not very well known; we wanted to bring to light the hidden treasures of the collection,”adds the curator.
One of the hallmarks of scientific illustration is its close attention to detail. The exact number of thorns on the puffer fish, the complex ornamentation of the multicolored bird plumage - every little detail was meticulously reproduced in the image to provide the researchers with reliable data. But still, each, even anonymous, illustration in old atlases bears the imprint of the artist's individuality, his inquisitive mind, and in some cases (just don’t tell scientists) - a vivid imagination.
The old illustrated natural history atlases are one of the sources of inspiration for the talented illustrator Nicholas di Genova.
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