Art and Science in Depicting Nature: Building a Botanical Iconography Through Drawing and Photography
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Art and science in depicting nature: building a botanical iconography through drawing and photography Sandra Maria Ribeiro Santos Tese de Doutoramento em História da Arte, especialidade em Museologia e Património Artístico janeiro 2019 Tese apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Doutor em História da Arte, especialidade em Museologia e Património Artístico, realizada sob a orientação científica da Professora Doutora Sandra Leandro, e coorientação da Professora Doutora Raquel Henriques da Silva, do Dr. Pedro Salgado, e do Professor Rob Kesseler. Apoio financeiro da Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), através de Bolsa de Doutoramento com a referência SFRH/BD/100159/2014. To my grandparents, my parents and my sister for their love and care since always ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The moment of writing the acknowledgments is one of the most meaningful in a hardworking and long process such as this one. And it is wonderful to realize that time and space are too limited to express my thank you to so many people who, in many different ways, have supported and cared for me. To my supervisor, Professor Doctor Sandra Leandro, who always believed in me and whose encouragement and insight were precious throughout these years. Sometimes, I feel that people come into our lives for special reasons, this is the case. I am very happy to know that I have gained a friend. To my co-supervisors: Professor Doctor Raquel Henriques da Silva, for the belief, the encouragement and all her efforts to help me keep my feet on the ground, they were essential for the learning that comes from this journey; Professor Rob Kesseler, for being always available and willing to help in any way he could, for sharing his passions and inspiring his work with art and botany, always with kind and encouraging words; Dr. Pedro Salgado, who received me as co-supervisor with open arms since day one and who inspires me with his love for art and Nature. To the Foundation for Science and Technology for the funding of my doctoral grant, which made it possible for this work to be developed as it was. I also thank the institutions that made this research possible: to the Institute of History of Art, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, and Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London; to the Victoria and Albert Museum, namely the V&A Archive at Blythe House, The Prints and Drawings Study Room, and the National Art Library (a special thank you to Ruby, whose welcoming chats and smiles made the, sometimes very cold, days at the National Art Library, much warmer); to the archive of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; to the Christopher Dresser Society; to the Ruskin Library and Research Centre and Professor David Ingram; to the Royal Photographic Society; to the National Library of Ireland; to the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery; to the Centro Português de Fotografia (a special thank you to Dinora). With all that I am, I thank my family and friends who live in my heart and who have welcomed me in theirs: To Dan, for his love and support in so many ways; for joining in my smiles and laughter, and for being a safe haven in the harder times (and to i Eva, for the exclamation marks, and to Leon). To my sister, Carla for everything she does and is, and that is so, so much. To those people with an immense place in my heart. Márcio, for his belief and support. Sofia, Lara, Marco Santos, Sylvain, Marco Rodrigues, Liliana, Ricardinho, Sandro, the friends from Leiria and from m|i|mo, especially Salette, Susete, Mário, Ana, Vanessa, and to my dear Mena, for the love and for making me feel that I am never alone, even when I “am”, no matter if near or far. To Telminho and to Michele, Virgílio and Armanda, Rute and Bhagya who made my move to London so much easier and happier. To Patrícia, my friend and PhD colleague, thank you so much for your generosity with the logistics, and also for all the sharing and trust, I hope I can do the same when it’s your turn. To Simone, for his help with the translation from the Italian. To my sweet Leonor, Ana, Célia, and Daniel, the colleagues who also became friends, for all support and sharing. To professor Alice Semedo, Professor Carlos Neves, Professor Susana Carvalho and Ana David, for the amazing words in their reference letters when applying for my doctoral grant. To all those whom I care so much for, who make me feel I am a truly lucky person with wonderful people in my life. To João, my brother, who is no longer here but keeps living in me. ii ART AND SCIENCE IN DEPICTING NATURE: BUILDING A BOTANICAL ICONOGRAPHY THROUGH DRAWING AND PHOTOGRAPHY SANDRA MARIA RIBEIRO SANTOS RESUMO O tema proposto centra-se na relação entre Artes Visuais, Natureza e Ciência. Parte do desenho de observação e da imagem fotográfica, com ênfase na fotomicrografia, para estudar as dimensões artística e científica nas representações gráficas da botânica. Com estudos de caso focados sobretudo no período vitoriano no Reino Unido e estendendo-se ao contexto português, a investigação proposta visa explorar as especificidades, paralelismos e complementaridades das variantes da imagem botânica enunciadas. A partir de uma análise de conjunto, propõe-se aferir o potencial dessas imagens para a construção de uma iconografia botânica mais completa e significativa para as áreas da Arte e da Ciência. Centra-se, por isso, no espaço de representação pictórica onde ambas disciplinas se encontram. Este trabalho pretende contribuir para o fomento da produção científica nas áreas de interceção entre Arte e Ciência, associando-se à valorização artística e científica dos elementos da Natureza. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: arte, ciência, botânica, desenho, fotografia ABSTRACT The research we will carry out is focused on the interconnection between Visual Arts, Nature and Science. It focuses on observation drawing and the photographic image, with emphases on photomicrography, to study the technical image and the artistic image in the graphic depiction of botany. With case studies focused mainly on the Victorian period in the United Kingdom and extended to the Portuguese context, the proposed research seeks to explore the specificities, parallels and complementarities of these variants of the botanical image. With an integrative analysis as a starting point, we assess the potential of these images for the construction of a more complete and meaningful botanical iconography for the areas of Art and Science. It focuses, therefore, in the space of pictorial representation where both disciplines meet. With this work, we aim to contribute for the promotion of scientific production in the areas of interception between Art and Science, associated with a growing artistic and scientific appreciation of Nature and its elements. KEYWORDS: art, science, botany, drawing, photography iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................... I RESUMO .......................................................................................................................................... III ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................................ III TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................... IV LIST OF ABREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................. VII INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................... 8 STATE OF THE ART .......................................................................................................................... 20 THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ART, NATURE AND SCIENCE IN NINETEENTH CENTURY EUROPE ........................ 20 THE ROMANTICS IN THEIR CONNECTION WITH NATURE ........................................................................ 21 A “SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW”: BOTANY IN ART IN THE 1800S ................................................................. 25 TECHNICAL IMAGE AND ARTISTIC IMAGE IN BOTANICAL VISUAL RECORDS .................................................. 28 TECHNICAL IMAGE AND ARTISTIC IMAGE OF BOTANY: CONTRIBUTIONS OF DRAWING AND PHOTOGRAPHY ....... 32 1. ART, SCIENCE AND THE STUDY OF NATURE IN BRITISH ART: FROM RUSKIN TO THE PRE- RAPHAELITES .................................................................................................................................. 43 POETRY, ART AND SCIENCE COMBINED: JOHN RUSKIN’S VIEWS ON BOTANY AS APPLIED TO ART 45 1.1.1. ON DRAWING PLANTS AND FLOWERS.................................................................................. 54 1.1.2. THE UNIQUE APPEAL OF THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF .............................................................. 61 1.1.3. RUSKIN AND THE PRE-RAPHAELITES ................................................................................... 67 AN INSIGHT INTO BOTANICAL ELEMENTS IN PRE-RAPHAELITE PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS 69 1.2.1. WILLIAM HOLMAN HUNT: NATURE JUST AS IT IS .................................................................. 70 1.2.2. JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS: DETAIL, COLOUR AND DIVERSITY ......................................................