Purpura Seashells

Fine art print inspired by an engraving made in the 1790s by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. Lamarck was a French naturalist and an early proponent of the idea of evolution.

Features Purpura seashells. Royal purple, imperial purple or imperial dye, is a reddish-purple natural dye, which is a secretion produced by certain species of predatory sea snails in the family purpura. The dye was greatly prized in antiquity because the colour did not easily fade, but instead became brighter with weathering and sunlight.