In 1665 the Royal Society in London launched the Philosophical Transactions, a monthly journal regarded as the first scientific journal and still published today. Its editors faced a basic problem: printing could only show black and white lines, while scientists wanted to show colour, texture and three-dimensional form. The early issues tried several solutions. John Evelyn praised wax models that sculpted natural specimens and maps in relief as more lifelike than drawings. In 1686 Richard Waller published a foldable table of 128 colour samples, each with a name and description, so that readers could match natural colours to a standard reference. Its swatches had to be added by hand to several hundred copies, and the printers were given special instructions for binding. The result was an early attempt to standardise visual evidence for science.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.