Wildlife Art
From the first cave paintings of animals to the development of digital photography, illustration has played an important role in the study of wildlife.
The museum has an extensive collection of zoological illustration from the 1800s and 1900s. There are more than 500 items of paintings, drawing and sculpture.
The collection, started in the 1960s, is one the largest collections of wildlife art held by a museum.
Peter Scott, Eric Ennion, Keith Shackleton and Basil Ede are just a few of the artists represented in the collection.
There are also 170 watercolour paintings by the Irish artist Richard Dunscombe Parker. Painted in the 1800s they show birds in Irish landscapes.
The small collection of sculptures includes works by Morris Harding, Antoine-Louis Barye and Jonathan Kenworthy.