Artistic Encounter
The appearance of a large and potentially dangerous Leopard Seal on the Victorian coastline must have caused considerable excitement. One of those who witnessed this impressive vagrant from Antarctic waters was the artist and naturalist Ludwig Becker.
His first observations of the animal were made hurriedly on both sides of a sheet of green paper. Sinuous ink strokes communicated the power of the animal, probably frightened by the proximity of curious onlookers.
The specimen while alive was able to open its mouth so much that the upper and lower jaw formed an angle of nearly eighty degrees. Palate and tongue pale flesh-color. The flexibility of the spine was seen while the poor animal was crying either from pain or for food; it could rise the head two feet and a half from the floor while still the sternum was level with the belly, and the head when raised was bent backwards. At the same time the spine from above the pelvis to the tail moved right to left. The sound was somewhat between a roaring and a grunting noise, not very strong.1
The next image in the series appears to have been made when the animal was more subdued, perhaps close to death. The other side of the paper reveals a lively image of a pebble crab, an inhabitant of the coarse sandy beaches on which the animal must have stranded.
There are also finely drafted images of the creature's skull and jaws, totally cleansed of flesh. These images expertly convey the form and dentition of the skull, but as with all Becker's sketches they also have strong aesthetic appeal.
Becker produced a lithograph of the seal for the Museum, bringing the various drawings together into a satisfying visual description.
1Ludwig Becker, Museum Victoria Scientific Artwork Collection PZ21.4, 1858.