Darwin’s Eye shows the traditions of natural history and illustration that influenced the young Darwin, and the visual stimuli he drew from the fine arts, not least the collections at the Fitzwilliam Museum. Works on display will stress the highly visual nature of Darwin’s own researches as an observational scientist, and his passionate interest in all facets of the natural world. These include books that belonged to Darwin and specimens he collected, together with botanical drawings by his mentor, John Henslow, and his close friend, Joseph Hooker, as well as a group of exhibits relating to Darwin’s epic five-year voyage on H.M.S. Beagle.

next