BBC - Radio 4 - Woman's Hour -Botanical Illustrations

At the Natural History Museum

If you've ever been to see the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, there's an art collection there on public display which you might not have noticed - because it's on the ceiling.

In 1881 the Natural History Museum re-opened at its new site in the then rural London suburb of South Kensington complete with a ceiling covered in panels of finely gilded paintings of plants.

Botanist Sandy Knapp has worked in the museum for years and has long been fascinated by the ceiling. She has now co-authored a book on the subject in an attempt to find out just why the plants are there.

Sandy and Claudia Hammond crane their necks to get a better view of the ceiling.

Jenni is joined in the studio by Gill Saunders, curator at V&A and author of book on botanical art andPatricia Fara, lecturer in the history of science at Cambridge to discuss the significance of botanical illustrations.

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