Step 3: Multiply the observations

After having chosen the specimen, the scientist multiplies the observations, in order to grasp the insect in its entirety. The multiplication of viewpoints, the unfolding of the different aspects of an object or an insect, is something that can be found in numerous Dutch paintings.

Hooke describes that he observed the fly in his "usual manner, by varying the degrees of light, and altering its position to each kinde of light". Dutch painters do the same with the objects they depict. They try to show them in their entirety, their complexity and their beauty, in order to give a sense of their tridimensionality in the two dimensional space of the painting.

Margareta Haverman was a Dutch flower artists. As most women artists she specialised in still-life paintings as she was not allowed to study the nude model. She was admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting in Paris, but was expelled a year later, her reception piece being considered the work of her master. Only two paintings signed by her still exist today.

Immerse yourself in the precision and details of this impressive composition of flowers and fruits, that shows numerous insects in various positions

Margareta Haverman's painting asks for close looking and also differentiates numerous types of flowers and insects. More interestingly, the insects are usually depicted from different angles and perspectives. For example, two butterflies have been drawn: one with its wings opened, the other one in profile. Thus, the viewer can apprehend it through its different facets.