Page 14 - La Naturaleza como inspiración

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the food and agriculture industry, and an advocate of responsible and sustainable consumption.
This current interest is connected with the concerns of the Enlightenment scientists, whose chief aims were to describe and analyse the different areas of Nature, knowledge of which was increasing daily. Among the fields that most benefited from this classifying zeal were Botany and Zoology. Their legacy includes some of the largest and finest compilations of drawings and engravings that are still preserved, as evidenced by the exhibition “Mutis al natural. Ciencia y arte en el Nuevo Reino de Granada” (“Natural Mut- is. Science and Art in the New Kingdom of Granada”) staged by Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) in 2008 and 2009, which took a look at the work of José Cel- estino Mutis and his beautiful drawings.
In the spring of 2012 the NCB Naturalis in Leiden hosted our exhibition “Passion for Flowers. Drawings from the Van Berkhey Collection” bring- ing together the botanical illustrations assembled by the multifaceted Dutchman Johannes le Francq van Berkhey (Leiden, 1729–1812). The plates shown in this exhibition, which represent the physiology of
African, American, Asian and European plants, are part of the prints that were split off from the rest of the collection in 1903 in order to join the holdings of the Real Jardín Botánico.
Continuing with our aim to make the major compilation work performed by van Berkhey known to the Dutch public, on the occasion of the bicen- tenary of his death we are showing at the Limburgs Museum in Venlo a selection of the zoological draw- ings which were collected by the man who was once a professor at Leiden University and are now in the care of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid. Selected by the curator, María Pilar de San Pío, they are an example both of 18th century scientific knowledge and of the different schools and the variety of techniques used in illustrations of the period.
This exhibition, which has been made pos- sible by the joint work of Limburgs Museum and the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, marks the culmination of Spain’s presence at Floriade 2012, whose scope and duration is broadened by the present catalogue.