During the 16th and 17th centuries, important developments in colonial expansion, trade and scientific technology stimulated a zeal for studying the natural world. Previously unknown or overlooked species were documented with unprecedented precision, and artists have recorded countless varieties of flora and fauna in paintings, prints and encyclopedic volumes.
Marking of a first collaboration between the child between the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Little Beasts: Art, Wonder and the Natural World Couples Almost 75 prints, drawings and paintings with around 60 objects from the NMNH collection.
“In large cities such as Antwerp, artists such as Joris and Jacob Hoefnagel and Jan van Kessel created very detailed drawings, prints and paintings of these insects, animals and others crittersOr ‘small animals’ in Dutch, “says the National Gallery of Art.” Their works inspired generations of artists and naturalists, who feed the fast -growing science of natural history. ‘
Natural history Has been a focus for scholars since ancient times, although the early commentary was a bit wider than its definition today. The largest work that has survived of the Roman Empire is Pliny the Elder Naturalis Historia, It consists of 37 books divided into 10 parts and includes everything, from astronomy to zoology and mineralogy to art.
Studying the natural world in the old and early modern period was mainly a philosophical chase to a perceptible change during the Renaissance. The attitudes had shifted by the 16th century. The humanistic learning tradition, focused on literature and art, started to make way for more advanced explanations for natural objects, to describe and group their types and transformations in classes.
Private collections played a fundamental role in establishing many archives in natural history. The popularity of Wunderkammers, or ‘Rooms of Wonder’, changed a pastime of the rich in exercises in scientific prestige. Towards the end of the 17th century, rigorous and formalized classification systems came forward as the philosophical component decreased.
During this time, artists such as Albrecht Dürer, Clara Peeters and Wencslaus Hollar created works who responded to new discoveries. From organically accurate views of shells and insects to playful compositions that use animals and plants as decorative motifs, paintings and prints were often the only means with which the public could see newly discovered species.
“Art and science are closely aligned with the 175-year history of the Smithsonian,” says Kirk Johnson, director of the NMNH. “Even today, researchers from the National Museum of Natural History depend on scientific illustrators to provide clarity and understanding to the specimens they study.”
Bugs Open on May 18 and will take place until November 2 in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC find more about the museum website.
