A bat faces you head-on, wings stretched to their full span, the membranes hatched so thinly at the trailing edges that the paper glows through them. Two ridged ears stand erect above a blunt muzzle; silver-tipped chest fur catches the plate's only real light. The mood is hushed and scholarly, with a small agreeable shiver — curio-cabinet gothic. It belongs above a desk, in a study, or over a bookshelf.

Bats confounded the people who first tried to classify them. Carl Linnaeus, in the 1758 edition of Systema Naturae, filed them alongside the primates; later naturalists set them apart as Chiroptera — Greek for "hand-wing" — once it was clear that the wing is a hand, four fingers drawn out to impossible length and webbed with skin. That anatomy is exactly what a plate like this was built to show. Nineteenth-century zoological engraving, the tradition of Buffon's Histoire Naturelle and Cuvier's Le Règne Animal, posed the specimen frontally on blank ground so every diagnostic feature — ear ridge, tragus, thumb claw, the flap of skin between the hind legs — could be read at a glance. Ernst Haeckel later found in that same symmetry a purely ornamental beauty. This print keeps both: the record and the ornament.

Printed archival quality on museum-grade 200gsm matte stock, which holds the fine hatching crisp and lets the foxed ivory ground read as real paper. A distressed dark walnut or wrought iron frame with a warm off-white mat suits its antiquarian surface. Part of the Atrecho Art Animals Collection — gallery wall ready.

Features & Benefits

• Museum-Grade Archival Paper — 200gsm fine art stock with a rich matte finish. Colors are deep and accurate; paper is acid-free for long-lasting display.
• Ten Size Options — Available from 5×7” to 28×40”. All horizontal.
• Part of the Atrecho Art Collection — Pairs beautifully with other Old World prints for a curated gallery wall.
• Gallery Wall Ready — Ships flat-packed or in a protective tube. No assembly required.

Please Note

• Colors may appear slightly different on screen versus print due to monitor calibration.
• Subtle tonal variations and warm antiquing are intentional design choices, not defects.
• Minor compositional cropping may occur at the edges depending on the size selected. The focal point is always centered and fully preserved.
• No frame is included. Ships unframed.

Shipping

• Printing time: 5–7 business days after order is placed.
• US delivery: 5–7 business days after printing is complete.
• International orders: please allow additional time for customs clearance and delivery.

Returns & Replacements

• All orders are final sale. We do not accept returns or exchanges.
• If your print arrives damaged, we will replace it at no charge. Please contact us within 3 days of delivery with a clear photo of the damage.

Our Story

Atrecho Art began with an obsession: the art that lines the walls of old European estates — the devotional portraits found in the side chapels of Seville’s cathedral. We are a family-owned small business bringing that spirit home, one print at a time. Thank you for supporting independent art.