The Organs of the Senses Familiarly Described, Plate 16
The series of plates given in this gallery depicts the ear and how it works. This image, Plate 16 of Bell's illustrations, depicts the inner ear. Bell describes it as such: "These are the mastoid cells. They are thought to strengthen the effect of the sound, by reverberating the air from the tympanum."
The Organs of the Senses Familiarly Described, Plate 13
The series of plates given in this gallery depicts the ear and how it works. This image, Plate 13 of Bell's illustrations, depicts the ear without the skin. The numbers and their labels are given below:
A: the helix
B: the unnamed cavity
C: the antihelix
D: its cavity, called the scapha
Making Sense of Sound
What does sound look like? How might it be visually represented? Can it be explained in a scientific diagram? This gallery seeks to explore these questions by examining the form and significance of the ways in which the Romantic period sought to incorporate the ephemeral, ineffable, and invisible element of sound into the visual register. Beginning with an anatomical depiction of the ear and its various parts, this gallery traces the new scientific developments assisting Romantic scientists in understanding how the ear itself functioned.
Western View From Near Mount Barrow
A somewhat confounding image of men and their tents in a dense fog, Western View from near mount Barrow is perhaps as close to the so-called Arctic Sublime that Sir George Back comes in his work; and yet, other aspects of the sublime, such as fear, awe, and immensity, are notably missing.
View to Seaward from Montreal Island
Another instance of meta-imagery in Sir George Back's work, View to Seaward from Montreal Island illustrates a quiet moment in the expedition and records without any great aesthetic flair both the landscape of the Canadian Arctic and the variety of people involved in the expeditions.
Victoria Headland, Mouth of the Thlew-ee-cho-de-zeth
Sir George Back's Victoria Headland effectively places the British Empire in a relation of unique, solitary independence to the Arctic landscape which, rather than acting as an impediment to imperial movements, placidly funnels the explorers' rowboat along the river towards the sea.
Portage in Hoarfrost River
One of Sir George Back's most unusual landscapes, Portage in Hoarfrost River is a vertically-oriented image that depicts several men trying to drag their canoe out of the river and up an extremely steep incline.
Launching Boats Across a Reef Opposite to Mount Conybeare. And Distant View of the British Chain of Mountains.
With its sweeping line of rock, startling juxtaposition of distant landscape with the nearer scene, and diminutive figures wrestling their boats over the "reef," this image is at once a picturesque re-visioning of a landscape and a record of exploration intended to reinforce British imperialist vision and scientific study.
Iceberg Adhering to Icy Reef, with the View to Seaward
One of two notable images by Sir George Back with a meta-artistic feature (a man sketching in the foreground), "Iceberg Adhering to Icy Reef" depicts the severely difficult landscape of the Canadian Arctic as simultaneously challenging and becalmed. This paradoxical depiction, in turn, suggests the difficulty of portraying such a landscape in an understandable manner.