Entomology Presentation

In class we will work on drawing insects and develop some color studies using layering techniques, mixing complementary colors, and comparing/controlling color temperature and value.

LINK TO RECORDED PRESENTATION HERE

Marginalia from 13th century illuminated manuscript shows butterfly hunter

Entomology

Though insects are abundant, they did not generally capture the imagination of naturalists immediately in the way that larger life forms had. Insects and butterflies often appeared in the margins of illuminated manuscripts, but were not the subject of study unless they were pests of the home or crops, or had economic value, like honey bees and silk worms. In the 16th century, Conrad Gesner and Ulisse Aldrovandi would take inspiration from Pliny's claim that nature revealed itself in the smallest beings and include insects in their studies, but it would take some time for the general public to take the same interest in insects that they had in other parts of the natural world that occupied a higher position in the Great Chain of Being.

Bibles and books of prayers were full of insects that served as symbols. Butterflies represented resurrection, as they were thought to emerge from corpses. Grasshoppers were symbols of the plague, and the hive of bees living under a single leader represented Christians living in harmony under a king.

Evidence of beekeeping and honey hunting dates back thousands of years. Mesolithic paintings from between 8000-2000 BCE have been found in eastern Spain. Jars of honey and images of beekeeping have been found in Egyptian tombs.

"Georgica" of Publius Vergilius Maro, woodcut,

pub. in Strassbourg, 1502

Honey bees were among the first domesticated creatures. Beekeeping evolved out of the practice of hunting for honey. Tools and practices were developed so that a beekeeper could entice bees to settle into a cavity near their home and eventually other vessels or baskets were created to house the bees. Egyptians had developed apiculture by 2450 BCE. The practice spread across Asia beginning in 300 BCE. A variety of vessels were used, including variously shaped boxes and skeps, as well as logs and hollow trees. Medieval knowledge of beekeeping came from the Ancient Greeks.

During Europe’s Middle Ages, honey and wax were an important part of trade, especially among the church and aristocracy. Monasteries raised bees to access the wax for their candles, which were otherwise made of tallow, and used honey to make mead in regions where grapes were not grown and wine was not available. Medieval clergy preferred beeswax candles to tallow ones and drove up demand.

Detail of a miniature of bees guarding their hives against a marauding bear, from Flore de virtu e de costumi (Flowers of Virtue and of Custom), Italy (Padua?), 2nd quarter of the 15th century

In eastern Europe, swarms were usually kept in hollow logs. Medieval Polish beekeepers often carved these logs into decorative shapes, like women with big skirts. The use of hollow logs often led to the development of “bee forests,” which included hundreds of tree cavities that housed bees and were owned by the church or aristocracy. Landowners recognized that the nectar from their gardens was necessary to honey production and could try to collect fees if they could follow their bees to the hive.

Page from Cantimpre’s Bonum universale de Apibus, written and completed by 1259

hand colored woodcut from 1481 edition

Bees inspired the clergy and naturalists to use their cooperative production as a model for human behavior. The queen bee, thought for centuries to be male and so called a king, came to symbolize virginity.

The thirteenth century Dominican monk, Thomas de Cantimpre, wrote an encyclopedic book about nature called De natura rerum, and a moral text in two volumes inspired by observing bees called Bonum universale de Apibus, completed around 1259. It was, of course, originally an illuminated manuscript but was printed multiple times in the 15th century and included hand colored woodcut illustrations.

The first book was written for bishops, abbots, and other high-ranking clergy. The second book was addressed to subordinates, like monks and laity. Each chapter outlines a particular behavior of bees and their potential moral applications.

He uses examples from the world of bees to guide the clergy, writing that just as there is only one “king” bee, there should be only one king or pope. And just as the “king” does not use his stinger, bishops should be mild. He compared laymen to drones and said that they should mimic the unity and virginity of bees.

Several prints based on his writings were made in the 15th century and the book went through multiple editions in the 1480s.

Skeps were the most common form used in the Middle Ages. They were made of woven wicker, reeds, or long straw, stitched with blackberry briar, and sealed with mud or cow dung.

This type of hive was named the Greek Beehive by a 17th century visitor to Greece named Sir George Wheler as it is believed to be unique to the country. It can be made of wicker or terracotta and is accessed from the top. Loose wooden bars are placed along the top for bees to attach their comb to. It is then protected from the elements with foliage or a terracotta lid. Bars of honey were harvested one at a time in the fall.

Pieter Bruegel , The Beekeepers and the Birdnester ,

pen and indian ink drawing ,1568

The meaning of Breughel’s drawing is unknown, but the figures appear to be furtively taking the honey, with one hive knocked over and the figure on the left on the lookout. Some have suggested that it was an allegorical criticism of the current political and religious conflict between Spain and its territories in the low countries, with Spanish occupiers taking from the locals through heavy taxation. It was dangerous to openly criticize the Catholic church at that time and Breughel’s intentions remain a mystery.

Of course, European knowledge of insects and beekeeping has origins in ancient Greece. Aristotle made accurate observations and notes on the anatomy and behavior of about 60 insects. He noticed that the proper maturing of figs was related to the wasp, but did not recognize pollination.

He wrote about the theory of spontaneous generation, developed by his predecessors, which held that living organisms could arise from non-living matter. This theory was developed in response to observing phenomena like tadpoles appearing in mud-puddles and decomposers (like mushrooms, flies, and beetles) appearing on rotting wood and meat. The concept was accepted until the 17th century, until disproved by scientist Francesco Redi.

Some European Christians found the notion of spontaneous generation blasphemous, as it implied that there were parts of nature that operated outside of the system created and directed by God.

These woodcuts from the Buch der Natur (the first encyclopedic text on nature to be printed after the invention of the press), edited by Konrad von Megenberg and published in 1475. The book included images of common household pests but were too vaguely portrayed to be useful in identifying species.

The evolution of entomology

The genre of still-life painting emerged as a means of providing substitutes for the actual specimens in cabinets of curiosity. Interest in insects as objects for collecting and illustrating was due in part to the introduction of exotic species brought from South America to Holland by Dutch merchants in the 16th century. This miniature painted by Joris Hoefnagel inspired flower painters of the low countries (today's Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg) to paint insects with their flower arrangements.

Portraying them gave painters the opportunity to highlight skills in rendering transparent wings, reflective and iridescent bodies, and delicate legs and antennae.

When included in flower paintings, insects suggested life and movement in contrast to the static objects. They also served symbolic roles. Moths and butterflies represented transience and resurrection, as they emerged from what appeared to be a dead cocoon. And because they were portrayed with objects of established value, their own market value increased among collectors.

Joris Hoefnagel (1542- c.1600)

We’ve discussed Hoefnagel’s role as court painter to Rudolph II and today we’ll look at his contributions to the study of insects.

He wrote and illustrated the first book on insects, which were so accurately rendered that they would be referenced by artists for a hundred years. His illustrations were based on first hand observation, as well as published and unpublished drawings of other artists- especially those of Albrecht Durer, whose nature studies and prints were very popular among collectors and influential on artists of the late 1500s.

Hoefnagel's Stag Beetle,

in imitation of Durer's

Albrecht Durer's Stag Beetle,

1505

Durer’s Stag Beetle is one of his most influential and copied nature studies. It was the first time an insect had been made the subject of an oil painting, though they had been included with botanical motifs in the margins of illuminated manuscripts for centuries. The degree of finish shows that it was a completed miniature work and not made as a preparation for another piece. Many artists copied this painting in the decades that followed.

Hoefnagel made some subtle changes to Durer’s study of the stag beetle. He closed up the gaps between body parts that are visible in Durer’s rendition and paid special attention to the subtle variations in the shadows that clarify the distance from the body parts to the page.

Joris Hoefnagel (1542- c.1600)

Hoefnagel, court painter to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II, wrote and illustrated the first book on insects. They were based on first hand observation when possible, and on prints and drawings of other artists- especially those of Albrecht Durer, whose nature studies and prints were very popular among collectors and influential on artists of the late 1500s. They were so accurately rendered that they influenced artists for a century afterwards.

Hoefnagel paid close attention to the relative size of the insects, to the translucency of their wings and to the texture or sheen of their bodies. However, he also invented or exaggerated the details of insect anatomy for decorative purposes, as seen in the margins of the calligraphy manual by George Bocksay (images below).

Hoefnagel worked in the tradition of the Ghent-Bruges illuminators, who combined naturalism with stylization by using tromp l’oiel techniques. They often painted cast shadows beneath the objects in the margins and depicted stems that appeared to be pinned or held into the book with slits cut into the pages. He was one of the last manuscript illuminators, as the trade was replaced by the printing press.

Hoefnagel’s father was a wealthy merchant in Antwerp and the family trade exposed Joris to a variety of scholars, cultures, and ideas. He lived through a period of economic prosperity in Belgium and then through imperial Spanish rule of the region, which brought excessive taxation, religious persecution, social turmoil, and finally, revolt and looting by Spanish troops tired of low pay and endless war.

Hoefnagel was a self-taught painter. He spoke several languages fluently, wrote poetry in Latin, and played a number of instruments. He painted in multiple genres, including miniatures, landscapes, mythology and allegory, and was especially renowned for his emblems, grotesques ,and topographical drawings.

Hoefnagel traveled extensively, filling his journals with topographical drawings which would later serve as the basis for an atlas. He spent time in the European trading hub of Seville, Spain, where he was exposed to the flood of imported plants and animals arriving from far away.

After his family’s business in Antwerp was destroyed by Spanish rule, he went to England for a year but left the country at the beginning of English civil war. He went to Munich, where he was hired by Duke Albrecht the V as court painter. While fulfilling court duties and completing commissions, he managed to complete a four volume illustrated book on the natural world, called The Four Elements. It included 300 miniatures in watercolor, gouache, and gold. One book, called "Ignis," was dedicated entirely to insects, making it the first book of entomology.

Hoefnagel worked briefly for Duke Albrecht's successor, Wilhelm V, but was dismissed for refusing to sign an open profession of faith. Emperor Rudolph II was familiar with his work and offered him a position as court painter. Rudolph

welcomed many artists and naturalists fleeing religious persecution.

Rudolph II commissioned Hoefnagel to illustrate the Model Book of Calligraphy by Georg Bocksay. Hoefnagel invented many of the insects in the books, combining parts from real insects and changing patterns and proportions to complement the text. Hoefnagel had access to Rudolph's vast cabinet and living menagerie, which meant that he could draw rare specimens from observation.

Hoefnagel’s studies were used as models for the insects in still-life paintings and in treatises of natural history until the end of the 17th century. They were considered authoritative resources and still provide inspiration for artists and nature lovers.

*Note how the plants and insects are a combination of two and three dimensions, and how he arranges the mosquito’s legs on the rosebud to enhance the decorative qualities. (left)

Thomas Moffett (1553-1604)

Moffett was a physician and naturalist who compiled writings about insects by Conrad Gesner, Thomas Penny, and Edward Wotton into a book called Insectorum, sive, Minimorum animalium theatrum, aka Theatre of Insects, or Lesser Living Creatures. Moffett added descriptions of the effects of ingesting or “physically engaging with” insects. As was ordinary practice then, many of the illustrations were copied from other books- especially from Ulisse Aldrovandi, in this case (see right).

detail from Insectorum

Like most of his contemporaries, Moffett sought moral guidance in the animal kingdom. As he wrote in his book:

Do you require Pru-dence? regard the Ant; Do you desire Justice? regard the Bee; Do you commend Temperance? take advice of them both. Do you praise Valour? See the whole generation of Grasshoppers.

The project began with Thomas Penny, who wanted to publish a magnum opus on insects and collected the writings of Wotton and Gesner, who had also aspired to publish books dedicated to insects but died before finishing. Penny added his own research to their work, and left the collection of writing and illustrations in Moffett’s hands when he died. Moffett then edited and revised the work, adding myth and superstition to observations.

He traveled to Spain and Italy to study sericulture- the raising of silkworms- as he was interested in its economic potential. He wrote extensively about the economic importance of silkworms and bees and saw it as a possible means of assisting the poor.

He hoped to have the illustrations produced as engravings, which were much more expensive than woodcuts, and kept adding to the manuscript while he tried to find a publisher willing to take on the expense. It was finally published 30 years after his death, but in a smaller edition than he’d hoped and with woodcut illustrations.

George Marcgrave,

aka Markgraf (1610-1644)

The success of Dutch East led to the formation of a second company, the West India Company, to cover trade in western Africa, the Atlantic Islands, and the Americas. However, most of their income came from the privateering of Spanish ships. The Dutch used the proceeds from their new company to fight the Portuguese in Brazil.

Johan Maurits was made the Governor General of Dutch Brazil and was tasked with setting up headquarters there to establish trade between the Dutch West India Company and the Americas. He brought a group of painters and naturalists to document the flora and fauna of the region, in part to attract Dutch immigrants, and spared no expense in building an observatory and botanical garden.

Markgraf was a German astronomer and naturalist who was sent to the Dutch occupied part of the Portuguese colony in Brazil. He spent six years in Brazil, recording meteorological data, developing maps, and documenting the flora and fauna. He collaborated with Willem Piso on an eight-volume series published as Historia Naturalis Brasiliae, producing the illustrations that would be turned into woodcuts. After just 24 years, the Dutch ceded control of the region to the Portuguese.

Johannes Goedaert (1617-1668)

Goedaert studied the life cycles of around 150 insects, including flies, butterflies, bees, and moths. He saw the work of God in everything and rejected the use of the microscope in his work because he believed there should be limitations to exploration. The attraction of moths to a flame was to Goedaert a warning to the overly curious. His religious faith shaped his observations and writings on insects.

Though he questioned the contemporary belief that mosquitoes spontaneously generated from dew and illustrated their larvae emerging from eggs, he did not commit to either side of the argument.

He observed different insects emerging from two identical caterpillars- a butterfly from one, and what he thought were flies from the other. We now know that some wasps lay their eggs in living caterpillars, but he took the difference as a sign of divine intervention and proved that the butterfly was “resurrected” from the dead.

His writings and illustrations on the study of metamorphosis were published between 1660 and 1669 and included woodcuts and engravings. His work was translated into French and Latin and republished numerous times.

The Ancients believed an external source of heat, or “vital energy,” acted upon slime or mud to produce lifeforms in an act of spontaneous generation, like golems. They observed tadpoles seeming to appear from nowhere and morph into frogs and had observed snakes in hibernation that seemed to spring back to life from death.

Paintings by Otto Marseus von Shriek, (1619-1678)

European Christians believed that everything in the world had existed since the moment of Creation, but that the so-called lower life forms were in a constant state of flux. They accepted the ancient Greek theory of spontaneous generation and believed that the supposedly unfixed or ephemeral nature of these lifeforms is what allowed for such bright colors and bizarre shapes and patterns. The larger life forms that emerged from the mud would, they thought, go on to reproduce naturally, while the smaller ones would dissolve back into the mud.

These lifeforms included mushrooms, lizards and chameleons, snakes, snails, mice and voles, seashells, and insects and were placed at the bottom of the Great Chain of Being. In the Book of Leviticus, Moses prohibited eating or even touching the “impure” animals, the “things that creep upon the earth;or whatsoever goethe upon the belly, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth,” and this included, “the weasel and the mouse and the tortoise after his kind and the ferret and the lizard and the mole.”

Otto Marseus von Schriek, a believer in spontaneous generation, was fascinated by these creatures. He was originally a flower painter in the "Utrecht style," but turned his attention to the things living on the ground beneath the leaves. He put them at the center of his paintings, sometimes showing them in different stages of the life cycle and even pressing insect wings into the wet paint. Some of these creatures had been painted into the margins of illuminated manuscripts, often serving as Christian symbols, but he made them the primary subject of his paintings and brought them into the world of fine art.

He led a small group of Dutch painters to Rome to establish a new genre of painting called sottobosco or "undergrowth." Paintings of these previously overlooked creatures reflected the contemporary appetite for the new and strange. Their ideas were quickly imitated in cities throughout Italy. Many of his paintings were collected by the Medicis, among others.

The theory of spontaneous generation was finally disproved by Francesco Redi in the 17th century. Redi initiated the experimental method of testing theories and gathering data. He studied blowflies through a microscope, observing that

they developed from eggs laid in the flesh by adult flies, not spontaneously. The upending of this theory opened the door to questioning many other long-held beliefs.

Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750)

Still life of peaches, plums and other fruit with butterflies, grasshopper and snail

This painting by Rachel Ruysch demonstrates his influence on still life painters of the era, who began to add lizards and other sottobosco life forms to their compositions.

Jan van Kessel the Elder (1626-1679)

Van Kessel, the grandson of Jan Breughel the Elder, was registered as a flower painter with the painters’ guild in Antwerp, but worked in many genres. His paintings were executed in oil on copper and were probably mounted on collection cabinet doors to indicate their contents. He depicts them against a bare background, but uses shifting perspectives and shadows to make them appear lifelike. They are thought to have been sketched from observation- both living and preserved.

Van Kessel's signature, spelled out in caterpillars and snakes

His expertise in painting miniature plant and insect life led to collaborations with painters like David Teniers, adding decorative borders to their paintings. He was influenced by Joris Hoefnagel, as were many artists of the period. His nature studies reflect the contemporary appreciation of connection between art and science and the desire to catalog the natural world.

The Soap Bubbles, circa 1670, collaboration between van Kessel and David Teniers the Younger. Van Kessel’s garland includes symbols of the four elements in a echo of Arcimboldo’s work. The cartouche portrait, painted by Teniers, shows a man blowing bubbles- a symbol of vanity and the transience of life.

The genre of garland paintings, as they were known, was developed by a handful of painters, including his grandfather, Breughel the Elder in response to the Counter-Reformation movement. In the early stages of the genre, the figure in the center was often a devotional image of the Virgin Mary, but evolved over time to include secular or religious portraits.

His works were collected during his lifetime by wealthy merchants and nobles throughout Europe. However, his work is often mis-identified, as he varied his signature at times and there were several other painters of the same era with the same name.

Jan van Kessel, “Africa” from the Four Continents series, 1660s.

Oil on copper

These paintings were originally mounted into an ebony cabinet with compartments. The series included figures in ethnic dress and animals from the continents of Europe, Africa, Asia, and America. Van Kessel produced over 300 miniature paintings on copper to be mounted on cabinets. The theme of the four continents was popular among the humanist circles of Antwerp in the mid-16th century and appeared in prints, books, and decorations before it was used in oil paintings. The composition of a large scene surrounded by vignettes is seen in cartography of the era.

Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677)

Hollar abandoned the study of law to pursue art after his family was ruined by the Thirty Years War. He left his home in Prague to apprentice with an engraver in Frankfurt and began his career portraying the castles, towns, and landscapes of the Rhine Valley.

His talent was noticed by the Earl of Arundel- a renowned art collector- and he was hired as his draftsman and began illustrating natural objects. He lived in the Earl’s London household, then left for Antwerp when the English Civil War began.

After the earls’ death, Hollar continued to illustrate for multiple authors and publishers. He did not make scientific contributions, but created some of the finest illustrations of the era, producing over 3,000 etchings.

scientific tools were often created and displayed as works of art

The microscope:

Lenses had been ground from glass and used in magnifying and reading since the 13th century, but three centuries elapsed before someone put two convex lenses on either end of a tube.

It's not certain who invented the first microscope, but a man named Zacharias Janssen is said to have made one of the earliest compound (using two lenses) microscopes around 1600.

Antonie van Leewenhoek did not invent the compound microscope but he did greatly improve it. He was a textile merchant and amateur scientist with no university training. He is thought to have become interested in microscopy after seeing Robert Hooke's book, Micrographia. The microscopes available to Hooke and his contemporaries magnified around 20 to 30 times the actual size. Leewenhoek would improve upon this to magnify at approximately 200 times the actual size.

He learned to grind lenses by grinding and polishing the excess glass from the droplet that forms at the bottom of a blown glass bulb. His improvements to the microscope earned him a Fellowship in the Royal Society of London in 1680. His extraordinary lenses led to his discovery of protists, bacteria, and much more. His improvements on the lens also made the study of insect anatomy possible and would lead to a new branch of research known as minute anatomy.

Robert Hooke (1635-1703)

Robert Hooke was a naturalist and mechanic whose curiosity and skills earned him the appointment to the Royal Society of London as the Curator of Experiments.

When looking into a scientific puzzle, he often improved upon the tools needed to test a theory. He engineered specific pieces of equipment to test theories about motion, combustion, and atmospheric pressure. He devised an instrument to calibrate thermometers, and developed a weather clock that measured and recorded barometric pressure, temperature, rainfall, humidity, and wind velocity.

He also made improvements to clock balances and escapements that made them run more smoothly and invented a self-balancing compass for ships.

His observations on gravitation and the nature of light paved the way for Isaac Newton’s discoveries.

Hooke and some of his contemporaries built their own compound microscopes in hopes of improving upon existing technology. This tool opened the door to countless discoveries and established the field of microbiology.He was the first to have discovered cells and microscopic fungi.

Hooke’s drawings, observations, and speculations based on his use of the microscope were published in Micrographia in 1665. He was not the first to draw from this tool, but one of the first, and his prints were large and impressive in their detail. The book covered a broad range of topics, from moon craters to textiles, but the majority of the book was concerned with insects, plants, and minerals as seen under the microscope.

The project of drawing insects observed through the microscope was initiated by Christopher Wren, a fellow member of the Royal Society. Wren drew some and presented them to King Charles II. The King was so impressed that he asked the Royal Society for more of the drawings, but Wren would not produce them, so Hooke was assigned the task.

Hooke’s illustrations included such tiny details as a bee's stinger, the foot of a fly, the head of a drone fly; and the larvae and pupae of a mosquito.

Johannes Swammerdam (1637-1680)

Swammerdam studied medicine and was a classmate of doctor Frederik Ruysch’s (who we discussed in the anatomy section). He developed techniques in preserving specimens, involving wax injections, and in preserving hollow organs, which is still used in anatomy. He kept a very large cabinet, though it contained only that naturalia that he would study, such as human and animal organs and insects and not the curiosities of other cabinets.

He also studied the “lowest life forms”- including insects, fungi, amphibians, and reptiles- and then set out to demonstrate that they were not lower forms and in no way inferior. Through the study of anatomy and reproduction, he also discovered that bees were led by a female, which upended the centuries old assumption that they were led by a male and put an end to the analogy of the Christians led by a king.

Swammerdam was a devout Christian who saw the divine hand of God in everything and was driven by what he felt was a religious duty to depict nature as accurately as possible. He was part of a growing movement in the late 17th century that believed in intelligent design.

He was especially interested in the life cycles of insects and wrote several books , including a “General History of Insects” and “The Natural History of Bees.” Swammerdam discovered important distinctions in insect life cycles and divided them into these four groups, based on metamorphosis ;

Those that emerge from the egg with all feet complete, like spiders
Those born with complete feet who develop wings later, ie: dayflies
Those tho emerge from the egg as larva and then chrysalis to become pupa
Those that become pupa without going through chrysalis phase

The study of anatomy is hindered by the decaying of bodies. Swammerdam developed a technique of dissecting insects and removing their organs to view through the microscope. He drowned them in wine or urine, then cut them open with scissors and then soaked them in turpentine to remove the fluids. He then injected them with colored wax or inflated them with air and put them against a contrasting background under the lens for study.

He was a pioneer in microscopic research and used it to draw the internal anatomy of insects. He drew what he saw under the microscope in pencil and ink washes. He thought that color would distract from the important details, and so did not use it. When he enlarged something in order to make it more visible to the viewer, he made notes about the proportions so that the viewer understood that the relative size had been changed. He had to hire an engraver, as that was a highly specialized skill in which he had no experience.

The process of drawing served as a means of understanding and provided a record of his observations for comparison. He and his colleagues also produced detailed drawings and dated them as proof of discovery, as there was a race to prove scientific theories at this time.

He also pointed out the similarities in plant and animal development, in order to disprove the idea of spontaneous generation, and illustrated the stages of the lifecycle to show that it was only a change in the form and scale- ie, that a butterfly is not the result of a mysterious death and resurrection, but the result of a development process. He showed the parts of the butterfly visible in the caterpillar and pupal stages.

BELOW: engravings from Memoires pour Servir a L'histoire des Insectes, or Memories to Serve in the History of Insects, written by Rene-Antoine Ferchault de Reaumur, published between 1734-1742

original drawings were done by Philippe Simmoneau and Helene Dumoutier de Marsilly; engravings by Phillippe Simmoneau, Pierre Filloeul, JB Haussard, Catherine and Elisabeth Haussard, and Claude Lucas.)

René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur (1683-1757)

Reaumur, for whom the Reaumur scale (thermometer) is named, studied math, physics, and geometry. He was elected to the Academy of Science at just 24 and wrote scientific papers on multiple topics, including chemistry, geology, the forms of bird’s nests, the locomotion of starfish, and the potential of spiders to be used for silk production. Reaumur observed wasps making nests from woodpulp and suggested that paper could be made that way, but did not pursue the idea.

He studied the connection between population growth of insects and temperature, proposing that there must be natural checks on their population since the geometric progression didn’t match his observations of the actual. Among his many contributions to science is his 6 volume work, Memoires pour servir a l’histoire des insects, published in Amsterdam between 1734-42. It includes descriptions of the appearance, habits, and locality of all of the insects known in the early 18th century, except for beetles.

Jacob Christian Schaeffer (1719-1790)

Schaeffer is best known for his contributions to the study of mushrooms, but also published an illustrated text on water-fleas. His work was made possible by the invention of the microscope and he followed Jan Swammerdam. His work is extraordinary for its detailed renderings of the miniscule water fleas.

He was a Protestant pastor with a deep interest in nature. He published a handbook on botany and medicine in 1759, then wrote a four volume series on mycology. He collected birds and wrote a book on Ornithology in which he developed a system of classification based on the structure of their legs. That was followed by a three volume book on insects that included illustrations of about 3,000 of them, published in 1789 with the title Elementa entomologica.

Schaffer had a large collection of curiosities, which he opened to the public. His many interests extended to experiments with color and optics and is famous for the manufacture of prisms and lenses.

Like Reaumur , he observed wasps making their nests from wood pulp and began to experiment with different materials and techniques in making paper. Plant fibers had been used in paper making for centuries, but he introduced wood pulp to the process. He documented his experiments in combining wood pulp with other fibers, like moss and hops, in a six volume book published in the 1760s. His book included samples of the papers that he made.

Portrait of Maria Sybillla Merian by

Jacob Merrel, 1679

Maria Sybilla Merian (1647-1717)

Maria Sybilla Merian was one of the rare female natural historians recognized for her contributions during her lifetime. She was born into the Merian publishing family that we discussed earlier. She communicated with many natural historians. Linnaeus used her drawings to identify many insects and Goethe praised her work. Shortly after her death, Peter the Great sent an agent to buy her remaining watercolors.

Her father died when she was only three, but her stepfather was an artist and taught her to paint. He ran an atelier, where Maria learned to mix pigments, prepare vellum, and paint flowers and insects. He kept dried insects in the studio for students to use in their flower compositions.

Maria’s interest in insects began with silkworms, but soon expanded to include all insects.

She brought caterpillars, silkworms, and other insects into the home to study and document their life-cycles in detailed drawings.

She published her studies and illustrations of the process of metamorphosis after two decades of research in her book, The Wondrous Transformation of Caterpillars (Der Raupen wunderbarer Verwandlung).

She learned the craft of engraving and published sets of her plant and insect paintings, which she hand-colored. Wealthy patrons could take these sets to a bookbinder and have them bound in leather.

Maria was raised in Frankfurt, GE and married an artist. They taught painting in a shared studio until divorcing. After the divorce, which was a scandal at that time, she moved with her mother and daughters to Holland and lived with a Calvinist sect called the Labadists that her brother had joined. At this time she became interested in frogs and dissected them, removed the eggs, placed them in mud and observed their lifecycle.

She left the religious community and took her daughters to Amsterdam, where they were exposed to the influx of exotic plants and animals brought back from the Dutch colony in Surinam. She spent a lot of time studying the plants, flowers , and preserved specimens at the Hortus Medicus- the botanical gardens in Amsterdam.

She became acquainted with many of the natural historians there, including the anatomist Dr. Ruysch, and began raising exotic plants and selling seeds.

Guava Tree with Huntsman Spider

This spider eats bats, birds, rats, lizards, snakes, frogs, and other insects. It injects venom into its prey through its fangs and then drinks the blood.

You'll remember Merian's name from the botany section. She traveled to Suriname to study first hand the plants and insects brought back to Amsterdam by the Dutch East India Company.

She documented the plants that the insects fed on and experimented with the diet of insects, noting that some were able to adapt by eating other plants when those they were accustomed to were not available, while others were entirely dependent upon a limited selection and died without it.

She contracted malaria and so returned to Amsterdam, which could not have been a pleasant trip, as it took almost two months by boat and meant enduring stormy seas and the threat of piracy on a ship only around 50 feet long.

Upon return to Holland, she collected and traded insects, spiders, crocodiles, snakes, and turtles imported from Suriname, and illustrated the cabinet of Dutch collector

She eventually published Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, written in Latin, the international language of science, which included 60 copperplate engravings.

August Johann Roesel von Rosenhof (1705-1759)

Rosenhof was a professional engraver and painter of portraits and miniatures. He was also a naturalist with a particular interest in insects, amphibians, and reptiles and studied the work of Maria Merian.

He collected and raised eggs and larvae to study their developments and published his notes and illustrations in a monthly scientific journal. The prints were issued in bi-monthly installments and included a plate of explanatory text. The material was later compiled into a four volume book that covered his observations on insects and other invertebrates, spiders, and frogs.

hand colored engravings based on illustrations by Gerrit Wartenaar Lambert

for the book, Papillons Exotiques des Trois parties du Monde: l'Asie, l'Afrique et l'Amerique or Exotic Butterflies from three parts of the World: Asia, Africa, and America, commissioned by Pieter Cramer, pub. 1775-1884

Pieter Cramer was a Dutch merchant and entomologist. He made a fortune in Spanish linen and wool, which financed his passion for collecting naturalia. He was the director of a scientific society in Zeeland and arranged for a catalog of his butterfly collection to be published.

He hired the Dutch artist Gerrit Wartenaar Lambertz. The work was expanded to include around 1,650 species, drawn from the collections of several others, including the former governor of Surinam (Joan Ray), Prince William V of Orange, and Willem Baron Rengers. It was published in a series of four volumes, issued as a series of hand-colored prints to subscribers.

Cramer died before the project was completed, so the production was taken over by Caspar Stoll. The life size illustrations often include top and bottom views of the wings and are arranged according to the Linnean system of classification and documents many extinct species.

Moses Harris (1731-1785)

By the mid-eighteenth century, wealthy collectors across Europe were interested in keeping gardens and insects. The Aurelian Society, named after the chrysalis stage of a butterfly, was founded in 1743 in England. Its members were dedicated to collecting and studying insects. Harris became their secretary and published a series of pamphlets and then a book for them, called The Aurelian. It included illustrations and notes on keeping butterflies and moths. He drew and engraved the illustrations for their publications and illustrated natural history books for others.

He also wrote on color theory and mixing and developed his own color wheels, which were published with the title, The Natural System of Colors.

Johann Christian Fabricius (1745-1808)

Fabricius was a student of Linnaeus’ and developed a system of classifying insects by the structure of their mouthparts, which was more telling than the previously accepted system based on wings. He named well over 9,000 insects and surmised that new species could arise through hybridization, environmental influences, and sexual preferences. He also suggested in 1804- 60 years before Darwin’s theory of evolution was published- that homo sapiens may have evolved from the “bigger monkeys.”

All living things lose their color when they die. Butterflies are especially delicate and susceptible to light, humidity, and destruction by pests. Titian developed a method of preservation using camphor and heat and then sealing them in glass boxes in a way that allows them to be seen from both sides. This invention is called the Peale box.

Titian Ramsey Peale II (1799-1885)

Titian the second was born a year after the death of Titian the 1st and struggled to live up to his father’s demands and expectations. Despite their contentious relationship, Titian II shared his father’s interests in natural history. Titian was a skilled hunter and draftsman. He helped collect specimens, painted the dioramas used in the animal displays, and helped run the museum.

Titian was the youngest member of the Academy of Natural Sciences. He began collecting as a teen and raised caterpillars to study their development, experimenting with changes in their diet to study the effects of these changes.

His work with caterpillars earned him the respect of Thomas Say, the leader of American entomology in his day. He was invited to join Say in retracing Bartram's travels through the southern US with Thomas Say and produced many of the illustrations that were used for Say’s book.

TItian traveled as a naturalist on two important American expeditions- the Stephen Long expedition of 1819, and the Wilkes expedition of 1838-1842.

The Stephen Long expedition took them down the Missouri River and through Native American territory in what would become Kansas. Their goals were to locate the mouths of the Platte and Red Rivers and to document the geography and natural resources of the region.

Titian was hired to assist the team’s zoologist, Thomas Say, by preserving and drawing specimens they collected and making detailed notes on their diet, habitat, and behavior. These specimens were preserved to add to his father's museum afterwards.

During the expedition Titian painted several studies of Indians in ceremonial dress and included details on their dwellings in the background whenever possible.

Upon return, Titian helped run his father's museum. He also took care of the living menagerie, including two grizzly bears, a monkey, and a bald eagle, which were part of their menagerie.

Charles Peale understood that he needed to offer more than a cabinet of wonders to attract repeat visitors and so offered public events like lectures, demonstrations, and even live music. His sons convinced him to include some natural oddities to attract a wider audience, and so he included a five-legged calf and even the trigger finger of a convicted murderer.

map of the Wilkes Expedition,

1838-1842

In 1831, Titian Peale traveled to Surinam, Brazil, and Colombia to collect specimens for his family's museum. He returned with 500 birds and 50 mammals. He was then hired as the zoologist on the US South Seas Surveying and Exploring Expedition, led by Lt. Charles Wilkes. They sailed around the world from 1838-1842.

The trip was an incredible feat of navigation that expanded knowledge of uncharted areas of the world. They explored 280 islands in the Pacific and mapped 800 miles of Oregon. They collected around 50,000 specimens of naturalia and around 2,500 ethnological and archeological items, which would form the basis of the Smithsonian Institution.

However, the odors of the collections overwhelmed the crew and the size of the collection was crowding the ship, so many of the specimens were sent back to the US aboard other ships. Once the items arrived in DC, the government did not have the space or knowledge to preserve them, and so they were sent to private collections. Many of the items were lost, damaged, or remained unidentified. And finally, the ship (called the Peacock) ran aground while trying to enter the Columbia River in Washington state. All aboard managed to get into the lifeboats, but a large part of the collection sank with the ship.

Despite the many losses, the voyage expanded American commerce and established the country as a new world economic leader. And the expedition did return with an enormous trove of naturalia, which would form the basis of the Smithsonian Institution’s collection. Titian was summoned to Washington to organize the collection of remaining specimens and illustrate a report. After Titian finished his duties in DC, he returned to his study of butterflies and wrote a manual on preservation techniques.

Titian received a commission to illustrate butterfly plates for Thomas Say’s book, American Entomology, when he was just 16. Say discovered and described over 1,500 insect species. The three volume book was published between 1824-1828.He also contributed illustrations to the book, American Ornithology, written by Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew, Charles Lucien Bonaparte. His own book, Lepidoptera Americana, was a life-long project that was published more than a century after his death.

Illustration by John Curtis for Introduction to Entomology,

by William Kirby and William Spence, pub. 1815

Illustrations by John Curtis

for William Kirby (1759-1850)

Kirby collaborated with William Spence to publish a definitive four-volume entomological encyclopedia, Introduction to Entomology, regarded as the subject's foundational text. He also helped to found the Royal Entomological Society in London in 1833.

Kirby was born in England and spent his life working in a parsonage. He was a “parson-naturalist” who saw the study of nature as an extension of his religious work.

John Curtis (1791 –1862)

Curtis learned engraving in his father’s shop, though his father died when Curtis was just four years old. His mother, who owned a flower shop, encouraged him to study natural history with a local tutor. It is rumored that his interest in insects began when he saw a tiger moth emerge from its pupae when he was a child.

Curtis was able to make a decent living finding and preserving specimens during the insect collecting craze of the early 19th century. He illustrated for Kirby and Spence’s book, and eventually completed his own, British Entomology: Being Illustrations and Descriptions of the Genera of Insects Found in Great Britain and Ireland, considered one of the best of the 19th century.

It was published as monthly subscriptions of 3 illustrations each with 2-10 pages of text, and included 770 hand-colored plates issued over a 16 year period. It included several previously unknown or unnamed species.

He was equally interested in the relationship between plants and insects and so depicted the plants in equal detail. He engraved or finished the engraving of each place, created the color proofs for each, and was closely involved in overseeing the production.

He also studied “farm pests” or insects that damaged crops and proposed integrated pest management- a new concept and early ecological work. His book, Farm Insects, was pub. In 1860.

EJ Detmold (1883-1908) illustrations

for Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre (1823 – 1915)

Fabre was a self taught naturalist from a poor family, but managed to get a primary teaching certificate and eventually taught physics in a university. He studied physics, chemistry, and botany, but is best known for his work in entomology.

He studied the lives and behavior of insects and spiders closely in the field and the lab and wrote ten volumes on them, titled Souvenirs Entomologiques. He observed the paralyzing actions of wasps in pursuing prey and described the inherited instinct as a behavior pattern in insects. He corresponded with Darwin but remained skeptical of his theory of evolution, as he was a devout Christian.

Many in the scientific community dismissed Fabre’s writing and questioned the relationship between theory and reality. At the end of his life he received recognition for all of his work. He was elected to several scientific societies, given a government pension, and was even nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature.

EJ Detmold

Edward and his brother Charles were popular illustrators of the Victorian era. Because of their father’s chronic illness, they lived with their uncle, who collected Japanese prints of plants and animals and nurtured their interest in natural history and art. Another uncle was a painter, who steered them toward the study of art.

They learned etching, painting, and bought a press to produce their own prints at home. Their work was enormously popular and they were asked to illustrate several books on nature by various authors and exhibited their work around London.

They also illustrated Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. After his brother’s death, EJ continued to illustrate fiction and non-fiction.

Elizabeth Fearne Bonsall

Elizabeth Fearne Bonsall (1861-1956)

Bonsall was a student of Howard Pyle and Thomas Eakins’ and taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She specialized in drawing animals, illustrated a handful of books, and her illustrations were published in several magazines, including Life and Harper’s.

Henry Christopher McCook (1837 – 1911)

McCook studied theology and worked as a pastor in Philadelphia. He spent summers studying ant and spider behavior. His writings were published in several books and journals and in a series of illustrated children’s books.

Left: The labyrinth spider's cocoon string, suspended within the maze above her leaf roofed tent, for Henry Christopher McCook's three volume book, American Spiders and Their Spinning Work, pub. 1893, illustrated by Elizabeth Fearne Bonsall

For pleasure, view these unusual books that combine fact and fiction in hopes of making us appreciate insects.

Life in the Insect World by Mary Townshend, pub.1844 (below)

Episodes of Insect Life by LM Budgen, aka Acheta Domestica, pub. 1879. (left)

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