Thornton Pl. 15, The oblique-leaved Begonia

Combining elements of romanticism and botanical illustration, Thornton Pl. 1, Aesculapius, Flora, Ceres and Cupid honouring the Bust of Linnaeus is an ode to the Linnean system of plant classification.

Printed with archival pigments on rag watercolor paper, this modern facsimile print captures the vibrant color and subtle texture of Thronton’s original engraving. Add dynamism and intrigue to your environment with this magnificent floral engraving!

About The Temple of Flora

The production of The Temple of Flora was orchestrated by Dr. Robert Thornton in concert with a number of talented artists and printmakers who executed the majority of the illustrations. Containing 33 plates that dramatically and poetically illustrated Linnaeus’ discoveries about the sexual system of plants, the folio was rendered using a number of printmaking methods including aquatint, mezzotint, stipple, and line engraving. Most plates were altered at various points, resulting in as many as four distinct states for some images. Despite its lack of financial return at the time of its production, Dr. Robert Thornton’s epic depictions of flowers are celebrated as one of the most significant artistic contributions to botanical art of that period.

The Oppenheimer Kew Gardens Edition of Robert Thornton’s The Temple of Flora makes available the complete folio as modern fine art prints. In a limited edition of 300, these prints are exacting facsimiles of The Temple of Flora housed in the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew library collection.

About Dr. Robert Thornton

Dr. Robert Thornton was an English physician and botanical writer who devoted himself to the production of a folio illustrating the Linnean system of classification which categorized flowers according to their sexual characteristics (i.e. stamen and pistils). Thornton’s The Temple of Flora illustrates Linnean taxonomy through depictions of flowers against their native surrounding. While the production of the folio was costly, and Thornton did not receive the financial returns he had anticipated, The Temple of Flora is “one of the greatest prizes of collectors of fine flower-books” (Great Flower Books, 43).

About Oppenheimer Editions

Established in 1999, our publishing company Oppenheimer Editions was developed in order to produce modern facsimiles of historic works of art. Marrying cutting-edge digital printing technologies with canonical works of art, Oppenheimer Editions has partnered with prestigious museums to make their holdings accessible to the public as fine art prints. Works from the New-York Historical Society’s unrivaled collections of John James Audubon’s watercolors and the Hudson River School paintings are examples of art that otherwise would be unobtainable.

Among the institutional collections we have partnered with are the American Museum of Natural History, the Field Museum, and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Our Oppenheimer Editions prints are not mere reproductions. Rather, they are limited-edition fine art prints made with the finest quality archival pigments on rag watercolor paper and executed to exacting standards.

For more information about Thornton Pl. 1, Aesculapius, Flora, Ceres and Cupid honouring the Bust of Linnaeus, email us at j[email protected] or check out our articles The Historical Significance of Botanical Illustration and The Historical Allure of Variegated Tulips.

more information about botanical printsView All Articles

Birds and Animal Art Botanical Art Information

An Obsession with Natural History and Victorian Collecting Crazes

April 17, 2024

Spanning the majority of the 19th century, the Victorian era was marked by a rise in fashionable collecting hobbies. Natural history objects were among the [...]

Read More

Botanical Art Information

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

July 29, 2023

A practical guide to understanding and identifying the different editions of Besler’s folio through paper types and material characteristics.

Read More

Botanical Art

Plant Mutations in the Botanical Prints of Pierre-Joseph Redouté

June 22, 2023

A consideration of the artistic rendering of the Tulip Breaking Virus, and the phenomenon of Rose Perfoliation in Redouté's prints

Read More

Botanical Art

Encountering the Amazon through Margaret Mee’s Lens

June 21, 2023

A consideration of Mee's implicit and overt depictions of symbiotic ecosystems in her paintings of the Amazon Rainforest

Read More

Botanical Art

The Historical Allure of Variegated Tulips

June 20, 2023

Visualizing expansion, abundance, and prestige through depictions of "broken" tulips in the art of Basilius Besler, Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Dr. Robert Thornton and Robert Furber

Read More

Botanical Art

The Historical Significance of Botanical Illustration

June 16, 2023

A consideration of the motives behind picturing plants including the functional uses and theoretical implications of floral imagery.

Read More