Eastern Wirra, Acanthistius ocellatus

This scientific illustration by Arthur Bartholomew was commissioned by Sir Frederick McCoy, Director of Museum Victoria as part of his zoological research. It forms part of the much larger Prodromus Collection. Many of the original illustrations in the collection informed the production of the two-volume work The Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria which was Museum Victoria's first major publication beginning in 1878.For over 40 years McCoy would bring specimens to Bartholomew to observe and nurture specifically for illustration such as this Eastern Wirra caught in Western Port in 1892. Responsibility for living specimens fell primarily to Bartholomew as McCoy's lecture room assistant. At any one time he maintained an assortment of aquaria and Wardian cases (portable greenhouse-type structures) to support a variety of fish, frogs, reptiles, insects and molluscs.Bartholomew was methodical and his illustrations were consistently flawless. In this illustration his method is clearly revealed. Having noticed a larva that had spun itself into a cocoon, or the emergence of a perfect moth from its chrysalis, he would carry the specimen to his drafting table and set to capturing its exact likeness and colour. Examining his subject under a magnifying glass, Bartholomew would first describe its form with fine pencil lines, before building up overlapping washes of watercolour and eventually adding glazes of varnish and gum arabic. At last he would capture the colour saturation and sheen of each part of the specimen, achieving a subtle three-dimensionality that reproduced its texture. The Prodromus project followed a popular formula of the time, seeking to identify and classify the natural wonders of the 'new world'. Such publications reached a peak in popularity with the work of John Gould in England and the earlier work of James Audubon in America. In Australia, many professional and amateur publications, including Aldine's systematic studies of the colonies and Louise Anne Meredith's Bush Friends From Tasmania, contributed to the genre.The publication of the Prodromus was an enormous undertaking, utilising the work of numerous artists, collectors, lithographers and publishers, over an extended period of time. Although costly in both financial and professional terms, it was met with critical acclaim and wide popular support. Financial battles were waged and lost by McCoy, but ultimately the Prodromus has stood the test of time and remains one of Museum Victoria's finest publications. McCoy died without completing his systematic study, but even at the time few believed that 'any of us will live to witness the completion of the work, if the entire Fauna of Victoria is to be illustrated.'