the death of nature women ecology and the scientific revolution

The sculpture has also been reproduced in other media.Īccording to historians of science Lorraine Daston and Peter Galison, the sculpture 'blends the ancient trope of the veil of Isis, interpreted as nature's desire to hide her secrets, with the modern fantasy of (female) nature willingly revealing herself to the (male) scientist, without violence or artifice.' According to historian of science Carolyn Merchant, the sculpture is emblematic of transformation of conceptions of nature that came with the Scientific Revolution: 'From an active teacher and parent, she has become a mindless, submissive body.' In a similar vein, biologist and essayist Gerald Weissmann has noted the similarity between Nature's pose in Barrias' sculpture and that of the central figure in the 1876 painting Dr. The figure is made of marble, with the gown made of Algerian onyx, and the scarab of malachite. Underneath the veil, Nature wears a gown held up by a scarab. The sculpture, which is in the Musée d'Orsay, was commissioned for the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. The sculpture depicts a woman- personifying Nature-removing a veil to reveal her face and bare breasts. Nature Unveiling Herself Before Science ( La Nature se dévoilant à la Science) is an allegorical sculpture created in 1899 in the Art Nouveau style by Louis-Ernest Barrias.

A copy of Nature Unveiling Herself Before Science in gilt bronze, polychromed marble, and lapis lazuli, from the Iris & B.

The death of nature women ecology and the scientific revolution