Sphinx Moth 1705 - 1771

This undated print depicts a sphinx moth alongside a plant with various stages of its life cycle. With meticulous detail, an anonymous artist captured the creature’s transformative journey. Such images were often made in the context of scientific study, with the aim of recording and classifying species for natural history. The artist likely worked within a network of scientists, explorers, and collectors, reflecting a growing global interest in the natural world. This interest was intimately tied to the expansion of European empires as they sought to map and exploit the resources of newly colonized lands. Understanding the artwork necessitates research into the scientific and artistic conventions of the time. By exploring the historical archives of scientific illustration, we can better understand the values and ideologies embedded in seemingly objective representations of nature. The meaning of this image is contingent on the social and institutional contexts in which it was produced and viewed.