This is the hidden world of the plankton, magnified into art. Copepods — the minuscule crustaceans that drift in their billions through the world's oceans — are usually invisible to the naked eye, but Ernst Haeckel drew them here as translucent, long-antennaed jewels, each one a tiny marvel of engineering set against a dark, deep-water background.

The plate comes from Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature), Haeckel's defining series of 100 lithographs. A pioneering marine biologist, he spent years studying the smallest creatures of the sea and believed their overlooked beauty deserved a place on the wall beside any masterpiece — a conviction that helped inspire the organic motifs of Art Nouveau.

The dark ground and luminous, symmetrical figures give this print a dramatic, almost scientific-poster feel. It looks superb in a modern interior, a home office or a study, where it adds depth against a pale wall and pairs strikingly with other dark-background Haeckel plates such as his jellyfish and radiolarians. The detail invites people to lean in and look closer.

Printed on museum-quality matte paper with rich, fade-resistant inks and a glare-free surface, in 30×40, 50×70 and 70×100 cm, with or without a frame. Unexpected, conversation-starting vintage marine art for the scientifically curious.