Strange Creatures: The Art of Unknown Animals

When intrepid explorers set out on international adventures and discovered animal species which were completely alien to their society, the only way of explaining them to the wider world was through art and description. Nowadays we have more impressive technology to help us get it right, but an artist's impression is still often our first contact with a previously undiscovered species. This exhibition brings together a range of animal representations including Europe's first image of an Australian animal, medieval accounts of exotic creatures and cutting-edge reconstructions of dinosaurs.