Insects Lepidoptera Humphreys British Butterflies and Their Transformations Metamorphosis Antique Prints Decor

Henry Noel Humphreys (1810-1879) was a British naturalist, entomologist and illustrator in the right historical time and place as the flowering of the Age of Enlightenment met the power of the Industrial Revolution. His artful presentations of butterflies with caterpillar & chrysalis so impressed the British Museum curators they adopted this method of display in the transformation lifestyle of insects. Humphreys resulting engravings were inspired by the Italian medieval manuscripts he had studied while studying in Italy as a young man:

    "The study of natural history is the learning of the characters with which the wonderful story of nature is written...I cannot conceive a more pleasing and natural introduction to its general study than entomology, of which I think the division of Lepidoptera the most easy and attractive section. H.N Humphreys, Esq.,1860."

Here is where Science and Art collide with the power of illustration making a beautifully informative decorative statement.