Opulent Oceans: Extraordinary Scientific Illustrations
Opulent Oceans: Extraordinary Scientific Illustrations is organized by the American Museum of Natural History,
New York (amnh.org)
Featuring scientific illustrations portraying the astonishing diversity of ocean life from colorful mollusks to deep sea fishes to a stout dolphin, the exhibition Opulent Oceans: Extraordinary Scientific Illustrations explores the integral role illustration has played in undersea exploration and discovery. It features 46 exquisite, large-format reproductions from 33 rare and beautifully illustrated scientific works in the American Museum of Natural History Library’s Rare Book collection.
Octopus
Engraver Fritz Winter prepared this illustration of an Antarctic octopus for publication in German zoologist Cark Chun’s Aus den Tiefen des Weltmeeres: Schilderungen von der Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition (From the depths of the world’s oceans: description of the German Deep-Sea Expedition). Winter accompanied the German Deep-Sea Expedition onboard the Vildivia and prepared most plates for the 24 volume reports of the voyage. © AMNH\R. Mickens
Sea Anemones
This plate by acclaimed artist William Dickes is from Philip Henry Gosse’s influential Actinologia Britannica: a history of the British sea anemones and corals (1860) and features stinging anemones that often attach themselves to hermit crab shells. They protect the crab while eating scraps of its food.
© AMNH\R. Mickens
Red Coral
The red coral polyps in this illustration by author Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers are shown feeding with their tentacles fully extended. In 1860, zoologist Lacaze-Duthiers was tasked by the French government to study red coral and his observations on regulating the harvest of this precious commodity were published in Histoire naturelle du corail: organization, reproduction, peche en Algérie, industrie et commerce (Natural history of coral: organization, reproduction, fishery in Algeria, industry and trade) in 1864. © AMNH\R. Mickens
