Natural History Plate

博物図譜 / 18th–19th century / Style / Natural History Illustration

The name for the naturalist's plates that showed unknown life as both taxonomy and wonder, with botanical illustration sitting under it as the branch that narrowed to plants. The symmetrical compositions of Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur became the junction where science plates flowed into Art Nouveau's language of form.

Natural History Plate — Haeckel, Art Forms in Nature, jellyfish — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Haeckel, Art Forms in Nature, jellyfish — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Natural History Plate — The same work, sea anemones — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — The same work, sea anemones — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Natural History Plate — John James Audubon, Cedar Bird, from The Birds of America — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — John James Audubon, Cedar Bird, from The Birds of America — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

At a glance

Visual cues

Symmetrical specimen layouts
Taxonomic completeness
Precision beside ornament
Systematic plate numbering

Best used for

Plates presenting the sheer number of specimens or varieties as wonder
Gathering forms from specimens when they will be reused as ornament

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Dictionary entry

Type: Plate number in a corner, species names in a key clear of the image
Composition: Several specimens arranged symmetrically, the largest at the center
Material: Chromolithography or hand-colored copperplate, plain ground, no shadow
Caution: Enjoying the parade of strange forms first breaks the scale and the taxonomic order, and the plate becomes useless as a record.
Further study: Haeckel / Audubon's Birds of America / René Binet's Art Nouveau architecture

Related entries

Botanical Illustration (ボタニカルアート)Same Natural History Illustration lineage.Compare Natural History Plate and Botanical Illustration
Art Nouveau (アール・ヌーヴォー)Editorially linked for a useful contrast.Compare Natural History Plate and Art Nouveau

Cite this entry

The dictionary is meant to be linked to. Take whichever form fits where you are writing.

Link: https://indexstyle.org/styles/natural-history-plate
Markdown: [Natural History Plate — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/natural-history-plate)
HTML: <a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/natural-history-plate">Natural History Plate — IndexStyle</a>

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