Nicolas-Martin Petit and Charles Lesueur signed on as crew members of Le Geographe, keen to travel to the undiscovered lands of New Holland. As the expedition artists, they were among the first Europeans to portray the land, people, animals, plants and marine life of South Australia. Lesueur's 'Le Wombat' was sketched on King Island, Tasmania.
This beautiful plate is one of many artistic depictions from the Atlas historique : du Voyage de decouvertes aux terres australes, by Charles Alexandre Leseur and Nicolas-Martin Petit. This atlas forms part of Francois Peron's publication Voyage de decouvertes aux terres australes.
Unity content ID9407Unity categoryPrevious DisplayUnity sub-categoryA chance encounterAustralianaExhibition informationExhibited: 'The Art of Nature', Treasures Wall, November 2014 - April 2015.