“The Age of Reptiles”
The Dinosaur and the Messiah : Art in the service of certainty.
By Stephen Vincent Kobasa, New Haven Advocate
Review of: Dinosaurs, Mammoths & Forests Primeval: Celebrating the Great Zallinger Murals at Yale (This exhibit is at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History)
“In the 1960s, when undertaking some needed restoration of the mural, Zallinger offered to make corrections which would update several elements to reflect the newest state of knowledge about the plant and animal life portrayed in it. This was refused on the grounds that the piece was now considered ‘a work of art,’ outside the framework of scientific accuracy. Unlike a textbook in paleontology which would have revisions required of its succeeding editions as a consequence of ongoing research, the mural was granted immunity from fact. It had become believable, even if not accurate.”
Posted by: Tanya
~Yale Arts Library Blog~ 