The Purple Martin (Hirundo purpurea) Possibly 1731 - 1743

Editor: This lovely image, titled "The Purple Martin," attributed to Mark Catesby and dating possibly from the 1730s, is a print using watercolor and colored pencil. It feels so precise, almost scientific. What story do you think this piece tells? Curator: Well, it tells a story of natural history intertwined with colonialism. Catesby was one of the first to document North American flora and fauna, wasn’t he? Think about what that means – this image isn’t just a depiction of a bird. It represents a European’s attempt to catalogue and classify a new world, for a European audience. How do you think that context affects how we see this image today? Editor: I guess I hadn't considered the act of documentation itself as an act of power. Did Catesby have a particular patron or institution in mind when he made these? Curator: Absolutely. Works like this were often commissioned by wealthy patrons or scientific societies back in Europe eager to learn about the resources and life in the Americas. These images fed into a European understanding, and arguably a control, of the colonies. Editor: So it's beautiful, but it's also complicated! I’ll definitely think about that colonial gaze next time I look at natural history illustrations. Curator: Precisely. And think about what's included, and what is omitted, from the image. Even in seemingly objective renderings, choices reveal a perspective.