Cataloging the World: Natural History Illustration in the Enlightenment

The Enlightenment fueled Europeans to embark on voyages of discovery during the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth century. Mounted as purely scientific ventures, they sought to gather specimens and to document and catalog newly discovered flora and fauna that would crowd the cabinets of Natural History Museums. Illustrations were meant to be practical, but they also reflect Enlightenment ideals in their beauty and extra flourishes, perspectives where art and science meet.