Two Hepatus fish - Ulisse Aldrovandi

Hand-coloured woodcut illustration depicting two fish labelled Hepatus, one blue with yellow fins and the other rounded and coloured in orange, green and blue. From Ulisse Aldrovandi’s De Piscibus Libri V.

Bologna, N. Thebaldinum, 1638.

The illustrations bring together close observation and the visual conventions of early natural history, showing how European scholars recorded and compared aquatic species.

Ulisse Aldrovandi taught at the University of Bologna and was one of the leading naturalists of his time. His illustrated encyclopaedia of the natural world appeared largely after his death and became a reference for scholars and collectors.

De Piscibus was first published in Bologna in 1613. Its woodcuts document the variety of aquatic creatures known to early modern naturalists.

The sheet measures 35.5 × 24 cm. Condition is good, with small spots in the white margin.