I was mesmerized by the beauty and intricate details of Ernst Haeckel's art. I used to do decoupage and used a copy of one of his prints of his to decorate an old cigar box.
Ernst was a German biologist, naturalist, and physician, he gave up on medicine early in his career after a brief encounter with a patient. Later he became the artist who discovered, described and named thousands of new species. He also mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms and coined many terms used in biology. As an atheist Haeckel vigorously popularized Charles Darwin's work on the evolution of the species.
The body of published artwork by Haeckel includes over 100 detailed, multi-color Illustrations of animals and sea creatures. Many books have been published in both German and English containing his monograms and prints.