I used to work at South Kensington for a number of years (at Imperial College) so I know these museum quite well. It is however a luxury to be able to spend the afternoon here.
In the Science Museum I study some etchings about James Watt, FRS, FRSE & his work in his on improvements in steam engine technology. In one I find Edward Jenner, FRS, who I have been writing about in my Critical Practice Essay.
Distinguished Men of Science of Great Britain 1807-8. Designed by John Gilbert, drawn by Frederick Skill and William Walker & engraved by William Walker and Georg Zobel (Wellcome Images).
Drawing was and still is an integral part of natural history for description & communication. My first undergraduate practical we studied & recorded variation in snail shells. The Natural History Museum’s collections contain over half-a-million artworks & there was an interesting exhibition on the use of drawing in recording the natural world. Visitors are encouraged to draw items on display.
Julian Pender Hume a palaeontologist & artist described exaggerations in iconic Dodo painting by Roelant Savery. He compared Savery’s Dodo painting to one of his own based on morphological records of the Dodo & closer to how we believe the Dodo may have looked.
Roelant Savery’s Dodo
The Dodo by Julian Pender Hume
Notes: Science & NH Museums 12 Dec 13
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/art-nature-imaging/
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/art-nature-imaging/collections/art-themes/caught_in_oils/dodo_main.htm