Oiseaux de guinee tires de bosman 

This image is an engraving of Guinean birds, based on the writing of Willem Bosman. It was made at a time when Europeans were seeking to understand and control the natural world, often through the lens of scientific exploration. The image creates meaning through its organization. The birds are presented as specimens, each labeled and carefully rendered. These are visual codes of scientific illustration, but also cultural references to the European fascination with the exotic. It’s likely that this was made in the 18th century, when there was increased colonial activity in West Africa and the rise of scientific taxonomy. The artist, though anonymous to us, might have been working for institutions like museums, academies, or even colonial administrations, reflecting the growing power of these bodies to shape knowledge. Such images were often used to classify and categorize the natural world, legitimizing European control and exploitation of resources. To fully understand this image, we can look at the writing of the time, as well as the institutional histories of scientific exploration. In doing so, we reflect on the meaning of art as contingent on social and institutional context.