The feathers of the Malaysian peacock pheasant were stunning. The display had lit them in the centre of the room so that they looked like a metallic sculpture. I wanted to take the work of art home.
The Darwin Exhibition is running at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge for few more days. My visit yesterday, on a hot and crowded Saturday afternoon was enjoyable and stimulating. I was reminded again and again that Evolution is about much more than biology - despite the beautiful specimens and drawings on display.
First, I had forgotten about geology. I’m not sure whether the chicken or egg came first, but during the nineteenth century observers started to understand the age and the structure of the earth’s crust and appreciate the fossil record at a time when Darwin was beginning to publish his theory. Influential artists such as Ruskin were beginning to see the landscape in a new way. For the first time people were starting to have a framework for appreciating the evidence that was all around them.
Secondly, I learned that Darwin took some support for his theory that human beings were just well-adapted and developed animals, from faces. An amusing part of the display are paintings and sketches trying to argue that it is not just humans who display emotions. Dog lovers will drool over this section.
Thirdly, it was interesting to be reminded about sex - more specifically about the role of sexual attraction in finding a mate. I was naturally drawn to the beautiful bust of an African Princess that was displayed at the Great Exhibition in London, but there were birds with multicoloured plumage, and a video loop of the Malaysian peacock pheasant in full glory trying to capture the attention of a seemingly indifferent mate. There were also links to concurrent Pre-Raphaelite paintings deliberately emphasizing the allure of skin tone and hair and colour.
One thing that remains with me is the abundance of evidence for Darwin’s theory that exists. It existed in Britain, but once an encounter with a plethora of other races and species starts to happen the varied, but related pieces of the jig-saw start to fall into place much more easily and rapidly.
Darwin has given us a framework for understanding the evidence all around us. The Creationists can hold onto their beliefs but must do so at the expense of evidence and reason and for reasons that are more important to them than the normal exercise of logic.
Ah yes, and I wanted to take them home and wear them as a skirt.
I suppose what struck me and made me wish I could do a spot of time travel, was that there was so much to discover at that time, so many things that could be seen and felt, to go in search of and try to understand. I know that today there are still many undiscovered things and mysteries to solve, but they are not so “solid” somehow. I could just feel the excitement Darwin must have felt, even as a child when he was just collecting and cataloguing beetles, about how it had all happened.
Oh and I felt inspired to read Malthus again. I must do that. I kept peering at the open books in the cabinet and feeling crotchety that I could not turn the pages and read more.
So I suppose for me it wasn’t any of the component parts, just that it was a bit of step back to another time and perhaps one I might have enjoyed living in.
But I never need reminding about sex!
Reluctant Blogger
Yes, I thought you would like the spots, and, of course, being a lot younger than me, you had no need to be reminded about sex.
Interesting that you wanted to step back into an exciting time. I think I am rather relieved that that particular excitement is largely over. It must have taken such intellectual courage to have those heretical views. I’m reasonably confident that I would have chickened out!
Thanks for an excellent report. The Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC recently opened a Darwin exhibit. I’ll have to get downtown to see it.