Scientific Illustration by Subject

Biographical Information and Links

Individual Artists (listed by area of specialty):
Botany
: plants, flowers, herbals
Entomology: bugs, insects, butterflies
Ornithology: birds, feathers, eggs, nests
Zoology: animals, wildlife, dinosaurs
Anatomy: medical illustration, figure studies
Ichthyology: fish, sea life
Architectural: includes mechanical illustration
Astronomy: includes maps, cartography
Anthropology: lithic, forensic, courtroom illustration

Chronological Listing of Scientific Illustrators:
1600 to 1700 | 1700 to 1750 | 1750 to 1800 | 1800 to 1850 | 1850 to 1900 | 1900s

Collections of Works
Anatomy | Anthropology | Astronomy | Entomology | Ichthyology | Women

Also See:

Penn Library / exhibitions: The Illustrated Book, 1780-1830: Natural History

Women's Work: Portraits of 12 Scientific Illustrators from the 17th to the 21st Century

Books about scientific illustrators:

The Eye of the Lynx: Galileo, His Friends, and the Beginnings of Modern Natural History, David Freedberg. Artists include Vencenzo Leonardi, Cornelus Bloemaert.

Amazing Rare Things, David Attenborough et al. Artists include Vencenzo Leonardi, Alexander Marshal, Maria Sibylla Merian, Mark Catesby.

The Great Naturalists by Robert Huxley. Artists include John James Audubon, Maria Sibylla Merian.