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Short Description: Palaeontologia Electronica http://palaeo-electronica.org. Switek, Brian, 2009. [ Review of A History of Paleontology Illustration]. ...
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A History of Paleontology Illustration Reviewed by Brian Switek
Jane P. Davidson Indiana University Press, 2008 217 pp., $39.95 (hardcover) ISBN 978-0-253-35175-3 "The science of paleontology," Jane A. Davidson writes, "has always been inextricably tied to art." From the woodcuts in Konrad Gesner's 1565 tome De rerum fossilium to the garish modern work of Luis Rey, the efforts of artists have been essential to the scientific description of fossils and bringing "lost worlds" to life. Though scientific illustration and restorations of prehistoric life may be considered outside the realm of true "art", such efforts have a rich history. These traditions are the focus of A History of Paleontology Illustration, a slim, but nearly comprehensive, guide to paleontological imagery. Davidson begins her survey in a rather surprising place. It is rare for fossils to be featured in fine art, but in the 15th century painting A Goldsmith in His Shop, Possibly Saint Eligius by the Flemish master Petrus Christus there is, if you look carefully, a fossil shark tooth among the objects scattered on the shop's table. The fossil plays a nearly insignificant role in the painting, but it reflects the general interpretation of such natural curiosities at the time. From this modest starting point, Davidson launches into a detailed artist-byartist exposition of fossil illustration, explaining artistic traditions and techniques as well as the changing nature of paleontology. As would be expected, restorations of dinosaurs dominate much of the book. They captured the minds of scientists and the public in a way that could not be matched by ancient shells and fossil invertebrates. It therefore would have been easy for Davidson to focus solely on depictions of charismatic creatures in the sections dealing with the 19th century onward. To her credit, however, she goes out of her way to describe the evolving illustrations of "Labyrinthodon"/ Cheriotherium, the insects depicted in Samuel Scudder's 1890 book The Tertiary Insects of North America, and Frank Springer's 1926 volume on echinoderms American Silurian Crinoids, among other examples. Davidson's book provides an extensive summary, and it is probably best utilized in the same fashion as one might use an encyclopedia. Even though the chapters are coordinated around particular time periods or themes ("Fossils in Art and Book Illustration in Early Modern Europe" and "The Paleontologist Poses with Fossils", for example), each chapter is organized as a list of artists and interesting illustrative works. Some entries are only a paragraph long and others fill up page after page, and while the book is no doubt useful as a refer-
Switek, Brian, 2009. [Review of A History of Paleontology Illustration]. Palaeontologia Electronica Vol. 12, Issue 1, R3; 2pp.; http:// palaeo-electronica.org/2009_1/index.html
