Vespae Hornets - D. F. Sotzmann, 1784. (Insects Wall Art)
This print feels sharp and quiet at the same time. The hornets are spaced out on the page like a careful study, so it reads cleanly as wall art even from across the room. It fits naturally in a study, office, or hallway where you want home decor that feels old, calm, and a little curious.
About this print
This print comes from Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst’s Kurze Einleitung zur Kenntniss der Insekten, published in Berlin in the mid 1780s. Herbst wrote it as a practical guide for readers who wanted to understand “the main groups” of what people then gathered under arthropods, not just insects but also spiders, crabs, and scorpions. It has that classic late 18th century feel: tidy layout, clean labeling, and an obvious goal of teaching your eye what to notice.
The hornets here are shown under “Vespae,” tied to the genus Vespa. Instead of a scene, it gives you clear forms and markings, like specimens laid out on a desk. Plates from this period are credited to Herbst and D. F. Sotzmann, a Berlin cartographer and copper engraver, which helps explain why the page feels both scientific and well designed.
If you want to see the same late 18th century “teaching page” approach, but with a wider look at winged insects beyond hornets, Hymenoptera is an easy comparison because it shows how these books trained people to sort shapes at a glance.
Craft & finish
Every replica we make is individually hand-processed in our family workshop. We finish the paper with a traditional beeswax seal to give it a warm, heavy texture. Our team also adds subtle gold paint details by hand to help the artwork truly shine. To complete the look, we hand-burn the edges to give each piece the feel of a true historical artifact.
While our smaller sizes are perfect for gallery walls, our 43x61 cm Large replica is a museum-scale centerpiece. Because of the size, the hand-processing and beeswax application take much longer. This extra time and care ensures that every centimeter of the historic illustration is preserved with a rich, authentic glow.
Find more prints like this in the Vintage Insects Art collection.
Vespae Hornets (D. F. Sotzmann, 1784.) - Vintage Insects Print
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At Artifex Historical Replicas, we bridge the gap between museum archives and your home. Each piece is a handcrafted historical art print recreated from authentic primary sources, including antique city views and botanical illustrations.
Hand-Processed Paper: We use specialized paper with burned edges and a beeswax finish to replicate the weight and feel of genuine old parchment.
Gilded Details: Our workshop adds subtle real gold accents, bringing the same glow to your walls found in 16th-century illuminated manuscripts.
Custom Sizes & Worldwide Shipping: We offer bespoke sizing for custom frames and ship our historical replicas globally from our family workshop.
Explore our full guide on how we create, display, and restore parchment-style replicas.
