How Ernst Haeckel made plankton beautiful

As was appropriate for a world fair exhibiting the best technology that the planet had to offer, the gate was studded with electric lights, which illuminated the archway’s intricate geometric design. The architect modelled the gate’s design on a drawing he had seen in one of the more unlikely bestsellers of the 19th century. The sketch was by Ernst Haeckel, a German biologist born in 1834 who – though he had no formal art training – made his fame drawing microscopic sea creatures.

Source: www.1843magazine.com