Eternal Creatures

Top: A nudibranch. Bottom: A “by-the-wind sailor” sea jelly. Photographs courtesy of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology...

A nudibranch.
Photographs courtesy of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology

Some 29 sea creatures from Harvard’s Blaschka Collection, exquisitely rendered in glass in the nineteenth century, are now on display in a special exhibit at the Underwater Adventures Aquarium near Minneapolis/St. Paul. Glass Sea Treasures from Harvard: The Age of Darwin is the largest group of Blaschka invertebrate models that the Museum of Comparative Zoology has ever allowed to travel; most of them have not been seen publicly in more than a century. (Their Czech-born creators, father and son Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, also produced exclusively for Harvard the renowned glass flowers now on display at the University’s Museum of Natural History.) Darwin’s work in the mid 1800s sparked interest in the “variations of species,” notes aquarium president Todd D. Peterson ’84, M.B.A. ’87. “The Blaschkas were not making ‘artistic’ pieces; they were using their talents to make exact scientific replicas, translating drawings coming back from this bold new age of expeditions. People wanted a way to see these exotic sea creatures in three dimensions.”

Todd D. Peterson
Underwater Adventures Aquarium / Courtney Conk

Glass, Leopold Blaschka once wrote, “is such a changeless thing that we do not dare in its construction to make a mistake; it becomes eternal.” In their Dresden studio, the two men produced hundreds of the glass invertebrates (and many other objects, such as glass eyes) and sold them to museums and private clients throughout the world. (One of the largest collections of their work was destroyed during the bombings of Dresden in World War II.) When Rudolf died in 1939, so did the Blaschkas’ singular art; he had no apprentice.

The exhibit is on display until Labor Day. For details, visit www.minnesotaaquarium.com.




Most popular

What Trump Means for John Roberts’s Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

This Harvard Scientist Is Changing the Future of Genetic Diseases

David Liu has pioneered breakthroughs in gene editing, creating new therapies that may lead to cures.

Brief Life of Novelist Ann Petry, by Farah Jasmine Griffin

Brief life of a celebrity-averse novelist: 1908-1997

Explore More From Current Issue

Colorful illustration of woman multitasking with laptop, baby bottle, toy, and checklist.

Motherhood and Ambition In a Pronatalist World

Gen Z is confronting the age-old question of balance—with a new twist.

Will Makris in blue checkered suit and red patterned tie standing outdoors by stone column.

A New Haa President at a Tumultuous Time

A career in higher ed inspired Will Makris to give back.

Vivian W. Rong sitting on bench outdoors.

Highlighting Harvard Magazine’s Fellows

The 2025-2026 Ledecky and Summer Undergraduate Fellows