Ceylonese Jungle Hermann von Königsbrunn Austrian 1851–65 Tight, precise pen strokes fill the sheet, forming a lush array of vegetation. In 1852 Königsbrunn traveled with two biologists to Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, to study the island’s flora. During their ten-month stay, the artist produced drawings that he later developed into intricate compositions like this one, reproduced as an engraving in 1865. By this time, some of Ceylon’s tropical forests had been exploited for ebony and cleared for coffee plantations, a result of European colonial rule.

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Photo credit: © MET/BOT / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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