Research exploring nature connectedness has shown that these relationships influence worldviews, values, attitudes and behaviors towards nature. In this context, natural areas that are difficult to access, such as aquatic ecosystems, lead to questions concerning the need for mediation tools capable of modulating human behavior through indirect exposure. Art has been recognized as an efficient lever in this objective, as it triggers emotional, cognitive and experiential interactions. Despite a growing interest in integrating art into environmental education, prior research has mainly focused on post-19th century art. We believe, however, that pre-19th century European art presents an opportunity to connect with nature while enhancing historical and cultural heritage. We thus propose a research framework dedicated to the quantifiable study of the interrelations between aesthetic experience, behaviors, and nature connectedness (especially relating to aquatic ecosystems) using a case study approach to examine aquatic nature as represented in pre-19th century European paintings.