Hexactinellae - Sponge woodcut and etchings

and etchings

and surrealism

Date: 1973

on its own it brings the same calming

The Amida Falls in the Far Reaches of the Kisokaidō Road (Kisoji no oku Amida-ga-taki)

Hexactinellae - Sponge woodcut and etchingsGlass sponges are nature's master glassblowers, building intricate skeletons from pure silica and this Haeckel plate shows them as the architectural wonders they are. Lattice like tubes and baskets rise across the sheet in pale ivory and gold, their delicate mesh walls drawn with a precision that makes them look almost engineered, like miniature cathedrals from the deep sea. The illustration belongs to Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature),