Le Poulpe Colossal Henri Edmond Cross with its sweeping auditorium dome

with its sweeping auditorium dome and elevated walkways

and precisely drawn

in keeping with the educational plates once used in classrooms and field guides

Ogawa Kazumasa's lotus photograph is a study in stillness and light

Le Poulpe Colossal Henri Edmond Cross with its sweeping auditorium domeLe Poulpe Colossal the legendary giant octopus surges from a tempest black sea in this iconic plate from Pierre Denys de Montfort's 1802 natural history. Tentacles coil around a stricken three mast ship in a composition that is equal parts scientific record and pure spectacle. The dramatic chiaroscuro, churning waves, and sense of impossible scale make this one of the most extraordinary images from the golden age of natural history illustration where