Crawling with life

Spiders, snails, beetles, butterflies, moths, frogs and lizards are just some of the living creatures painted amongst the flowers in the Museum’s botanical paintings and drawings.

See superb watercolours by the intrepid 17th century German naturalist and illustrator, Maria Sibylla Merian and her tutor Jacob Marrel, as well as works by the Dutch artist Jan van Huysum and members of the Dietzsch family. These are accompanied by studies of carnivorous plants and those designed to attract insects through mimicry or putrid smells, painted by the German born scientist and illustrator Georg Dionysius Ehret and the French artist and engraver Nicolas Robert.

See also three large spectacular insect specimens from the Insect Room in the University Museum of Zoology, beautifully prepared for exhibition by Russell Stebbings.

This exhibition is open at the Fitzwilliam Museum until May 8th. Free entry