Beginning in the 1400s, European artists were increasingly concerned with “naturalism” as a style and philosophy of working: their depictions increasingly reflected close observation of the natural world. At the same time, emerging scientists—or “natural philosophers”—began codifying their own observations and manipulations of nature in new ways. This course explores the simultaneous rise of naturalism as a driving force in European art and the emergence of the empirical and material sciences as modern disciplines. Topics will include connections between linear perspective and new theories of human sight; alchemical experiment and the chemical manufacture of artists’ materials; the collector’s kunstkammer and artistic response to natural curiosities; connections between the camera obscura and advances in lenses, optics, and magnification; the role of artists in circulating new scientific knowledge via the mass media of the print and printed encyclopedia; and beyond. From the late Renaissance to the Scientific Revolution, students will gain a fresh understanding of artistic naturalism and scientific study as interconnected endeavors—and be invited to reimagine the perceived boundaries between these practices today.