Representations of Animals in the 18th Century: Concepts of Knowledge in Religious and Scientific Illustrations and in Painting |
The basis for this project is the conjecture that the representation, observation and classification of animals is subject to historical transformations. Representations of both native and exotic animals in paintings and printed motifs provide a depth of historical evaluation as well as a means where truth and scientific objectivity can be resolved. This project focuses on representations of animals in reference books, in Encyclopedias, and in paintings from the 18th Century.
Of considerable importance for animal representations in the 18th Century is the tradition of Encyclopaedias, for example, the 'Historia Animalium' of Conrad Gesner. Gesner’s book embeds animals in the comprehensive creation order in an effort to provide the reader with information pertaining to divine creation. The hypothesis is that visual classifications like Carl von Linné's 'Systema Naturae' or George Louis le Clerc de Buffons 'Histoire naturelle' should not be regarded as a break from previous religious Encyclopaedias. Moreover the movements and revaluations towards scientific codes of representation become possible only through the tradition of religious imagery.
Aside from traditional religious and scientific imagery, drawings and paintings of animals in the 18th Century provide another reference point for the question of the concept of knowledge. A central example is the menagerie of Versailles painted by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, originating somewhere between 1739 and 1745 and commissioned by the first surgeon of the king and manager of the Royal Botanical Garden, M. de la Peyronies. Oudry's oeuvre assists with the examination of how representational parameters within the paintings are often overcome by scientific orders and schemes. Visual imagery in the 18th Century produces a historical draft of the truthfulness of nature, focuses a scientific perspective, and develops epistemological ideals.