The Cephalopods of Jean-Baptiste Vérany : the Beast and the Beauties

Jean-Baptiste Vérany (1800-1865) was a naturalist of wide interests, and the founder of the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Nice. His specialty was marine mollusks, especially cephalopods (e.g. octopuses, squids). Vérany’s major monograph was on cephalopods of the Mediterranean Sea published in 1851, "Mollusques méditeranéens; observés, décrits, figurés, et chromolithographiés d’après le vivant". It included descriptions of new species and 43 plates showing cephalopods ’in living color’. The monograph appears to be of relatively minor scientific importance. However, Vérany’s illustrations inspired depictions of cephalopods as both a beast and as beauties by important literary and artistic personalities. Here, first the life of Vérany will be sketched and examples of his striking illustrations of cephalopods ’in living color’ given. Then the use by Victor Hugo, the 19th century French novelist, of one of Vérany’s illustrations of an octopus to depict the ferocious beast in his 1866 novel Toilers of the Sea (Les Travailleurs de la mer) will be shown. The novel was a major contribution to the popular image of cephalopods as beasts. Not long after, in the 1870’s, Verany’s illustrations were used by the renowned Blaschka glass workers to produce beautiful glass models of cephalopods. Ernst Haeckel, in his famous Art Forms in Nature (Kunstformen der Natur 1899-1904), depicted Verany’s squids as beauties of nature. Although rarely acknowledged, Verany’s lasting legacy with regard to cephalopods may be his illustrations, rather than his descriptions of new species.

Jean-Baptiste Vérany (1800-1865) was a naturalist of wide interests, and the founder of the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Nice. His specialty was marine mollusks, especially cephalopods (e.g. octopuses, squids). Vérany’s major monograph was on cephalopods of the Mediterranean Sea published in 1851, "Mollusques méditeranéens ; observés, décrits, figurés, et chromolithographiés d’après le vivant". It included descriptions of new species and 43 plates showing cephalopods ’in living color’. The monograph appears to be of relatively minor scientific importance. However, Vérany’s illustrations inspired depictions of cephalopods as both a beast and as beauties by important literary and artistic personalities. Here, first the life of Vérany will be sketched and examples of his striking illustrations of cephalopods ’in living color’ given. Then the use by Victor Hugo, the 19th century French novelist, of one of Vérany’s illustrations of an octopus to depict the ferocious beast in his 1866 novel Toilers of the Sea (Les Travailleurs de la mer) will be shown. The novel was a major contribution to the popular image of cephalopods as beasts. Not long after, in the 1870’s, Verany’s illustrations were used by the renowned Blaschka glass workers to produce beautiful glass models of cephalopods. Ernst Haeckel, in his famous Art Forms in Nature (Kunstformen der Natur 1899-1904), depicted Verany’s squids as beauties of nature. Although rarely acknowledged, Verany’s lasting legacy with regard to cephalopods may be his illustrations, rather than his descriptions of new species.

scientific illustration Victor Hugo Ernst Haeckel octopus squid

scientific illustration Victor Hugo Ernst Haeckel octopus squid