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A review by trish204
Amazing Rare Things: The Art of Natural History in the Age of Discovery by Susan Owens, David Attenborough, Martin Clayton
4.0
I'll freely admit that this was one of two books I only bought because of Sir David Attenborough's name being on them. And where there's Attenborough on it, there's Attenborough in it, right? Yes, I am a little fangirl.
The book, to my surprise (though not in a bad way), is not necessarily about the natural world itself but about the art of natural history. Meaning that the authors (Sir Attenborough only penned the foreword) show some of the most famous nature depictions from books and art galleries. Funnily enough, some of that artwork I had indeed already seen - either in the Natural History Museum in London, in other books about naturalists' discoveries or some old atlases I have at home.
What was the most interesting thing, to me, was the timeline they built. We start in ancient times (murials)
then see some of DaVinci's impeccable sketches about proportions
followed by some iconic graphs
as well as astonishingly detailed and vividly coloured drawings and paintings
I'm always awestruck at how gifted these scientists were not only in their respective scientific fields but also at drawing!
Nowadays, we simply photograph or film animals and plants and technology has made some amazing advances but way back then, that was not possible. So people had to convey what they saw on clay tablets, papyrus, linen, paper and all kinds of other materials. And let me tell you, some of these art works are almost better than a photograph and you expect some birds, for example, to fly right off the page.
Not to mention the details!
I'm sure it wasn't easy deciding which art to show in this book since there is so much to choose from, but I think the editors did a very fine job of selecting and by that representing different eras. More than that, many of these sketches, drawings and paintings are so rare that you can't even see them in museums anymore since they are kept under lock and seal for their own protection. Witnesses of times past but still vibrant and utterly beautiful, just like nature itself.
But since this is a book about amazing art, here are some more works so you can judge for yourself:
It was also interesting to see that while quite a few naturalists had brought exotic animals and plants to life on canvas, there were also a number that wanted to spark people's interest in what was right in front of their noses (as can be seen in the still life with flowers above). I think it's important to strike a balance between valuing faraway places and creatures as much as those at home, wherever that is for you and seeing that addressed here as well was quite nice.
The book, to my surprise (though not in a bad way), is not necessarily about the natural world itself but about the art of natural history. Meaning that the authors (Sir Attenborough only penned the foreword) show some of the most famous nature depictions from books and art galleries. Funnily enough, some of that artwork I had indeed already seen - either in the Natural History Museum in London, in other books about naturalists' discoveries or some old atlases I have at home.
What was the most interesting thing, to me, was the timeline they built. We start in ancient times (murials)
then see some of DaVinci's impeccable sketches about proportions
followed by some iconic graphs
as well as astonishingly detailed and vividly coloured drawings and paintings
I'm always awestruck at how gifted these scientists were not only in their respective scientific fields but also at drawing!
Nowadays, we simply photograph or film animals and plants and technology has made some amazing advances but way back then, that was not possible. So people had to convey what they saw on clay tablets, papyrus, linen, paper and all kinds of other materials. And let me tell you, some of these art works are almost better than a photograph and you expect some birds, for example, to fly right off the page.
Not to mention the details!
I'm sure it wasn't easy deciding which art to show in this book since there is so much to choose from, but I think the editors did a very fine job of selecting and by that representing different eras. More than that, many of these sketches, drawings and paintings are so rare that you can't even see them in museums anymore since they are kept under lock and seal for their own protection. Witnesses of times past but still vibrant and utterly beautiful, just like nature itself.
But since this is a book about amazing art, here are some more works so you can judge for yourself:
It was also interesting to see that while quite a few naturalists had brought exotic animals and plants to life on canvas, there were also a number that wanted to spark people's interest in what was right in front of their noses (as can be seen in the still life with flowers above). I think it's important to strike a balance between valuing faraway places and creatures as much as those at home, wherever that is for you and seeing that addressed here as well was quite nice.