Category Archives: Botanical Art

An Obsession with Natural History and Victorian Collecting Crazes

Spanning the majority of the 19th century, the Victorian era was marked by a rise [...]

How to Distinguish Between the Various Editions of Besler’s ‘Garden of Eichstätt’

A practical guide to understanding and identifying the different editions of Besler’s folio through paper [...]

Plant Mutations in the Botanical Prints of Pierre-Joseph Redouté

A consideration of the artistic rendering of the Tulip Breaking Virus, and the phenomenon of [...]

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Encountering the Amazon through Margaret Mee’s Lens

A consideration of Mee's implicit and overt depictions of symbiotic ecosystems in her paintings of [...]

The Historical Allure of Variegated Tulips

Visualizing expansion, abundance, and prestige through depictions of "broken" tulips in the art of Basilius [...]

The Historical Significance of Botanical Illustration

A consideration of the motives behind picturing plants including the functional uses and theoretical implications [...]

The Symbolic Implications of the Pineapple

Visually flamboyant, gustatorily delicious, and polarizing when placed on pizza, the pineapple is a fruit [...]

“A Genteel Diversion” – Unearthing the Complex History of Women and Botanical Art

The relationship between women and flowers has been longstanding and laden with social inflections concerning [...]

The Interrelation between Natural History Art and Porcelain Ornamentation

The decorative use of Redouté’s botanical illustrations on Sèvres porcelain

Part 1: Examining the Art of Maria Sibylla Merian through the Lens of 17th-century Dutch Still-Life Painting

A consideration of the similarities between Merian’s prints and the visual syntax of Dutch-era still-life [...]

Part 2: The Influence of Scientific Modalities of Perception and Representation in Merian’s Artwork

An examination of Merian’s artwork in light of 17th-century scientific standards of perception and illustration

Trew and Ehret’s Magnificent Florilegium “Plantae Selectae”

A union of botanical accuracy and artistic beauty - Plantae Selectae is an 18th-century florilegium [...]

Basilius Besler’s Hortus Eystettensis or Garden of Eichstätt

A Floral Monument Lending Perpetuity to Temporality

Merian’s Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname

Visualizing Contained Ecosystems and Insect Development

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