MATLAB:matplotlib::Mathematica::???

[kj]

Is there anything that does for Mathematica what matplotlib does
for MATLAB?

matplotlib, even in its underlying so-called "OO mode", follows
MATLAB's graphics model, which, in my very subjective opinion, is
vastly inferior to Mathematica's.

The latter allows for a clean separation between the textual
specification of a graphic object (which can be very complex), and
its graphic representation.  Furthermore, it is general enough to
allow for the composition of graphic objects within other graphic
objects, to arbitrary depth levels.  This readily allows for the
representation of complex composite figures that are common in
scientific publishing today, where figures not only routinely
consist of several subfigures, but the subfigures themselves contain
mutliple sub-subfigures, and so on.  (In contrast, matplotlib supports
at most two levels of composition [a two-dimensional array of
sub-plots], which is both too inflexible and too limited.)

More generally, despite its usefulness, I find MATLAB in the end
to be one big ugly hack, so, as a developer, I would prefer to stay
clear of anything that is modeled after MATLAB, however loosely.

Any pointers to something more Mathematica-like in Python would be
appreciated.

TIA!

kj