FIELD MUSEUM PHOTOS
These two large murals by legendary paleoartist Charles R. Knight reside in the Field Museum's Dinosaur Hall. The first mural shown above is perhaps the most famous work on Knight's storied career. This large mural, which measures about twenty by ten feet, depicts a confrontation between a Tyrannosaurus rex and a Triceratops in ancient North America. The middle photo is an up close shot of this mural. The second mural, of which only part is shown above, depicts a Brontosaurus living in an aquatic habitat.
Knight was a subject of the 1998 IMAX movie "T. rex-Back to the Cretaceous." In this movie the main character travels back into the heyday of paleontology and meets early dinosaur mavens Barnum Brown, the paleontologist who discovered T. rex, and Knight. Upon meeting Knight she points out some of the inaccuracies in his paintings. Knight, who lived and painted many of his works in the 1920's, did include many inaccuracies, due to the fact that during his time much about how dinosaurs lived and interacted with their environment was unknown. But, new insights into paleontology today have proved that several of his dinosaur poses, including the above tail-dragging T. rex, and his environments, including the above water-dwelling Brontosaurus, are incorrect. But, regardless of these facts, his works still remain classics, and the Field Museum is a Mecca for paleoart fans due to his famous murals.
© 1997 brusatte@theramp.net
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