A silk scroll detailing medicinal plants.
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John M. Olin Library, Level 1, Thomas Gallery

Capturing Nature

Botany artifacts are diverse in media and range from pure scientific documentation to artful and fantastic interpretation. This exhibition combines a broad range of materials created over the centuries to examine how humans have attempted to capture, study, depict, and use plants.

A Naturselbstdruck or Nature printing (similar to pressed flowers) of two plants.
Five sealed and labeled jars from the Lily Laboratories on a table.

Capturing Nature is curated in collaboration with the Bernard Becker Medical Library, Missouri Botanical Garden’s Peter Raven Library, and the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections.