Commissioned from an unknown artist by the Dutch pharmacist Theodorus Clutius as research material for doctors and herbalists - and later used by artists - the botanical watercolours illustrated in this book epitomize the Renaissance interest in and exploration of the natural world. They were considered lost for 40 years after World War II until their discovery in the Jagiellon University Library in Cracow, Poland. The watercolours rival those of Duerer, Leonardo and Besler for beauty and accuracy. The plants, trees, fruits and herbs reproduced here in large, facsimile-style colour plates can easily be recognized by art lovers and gardeners today: they range from rose and columbine to sweet pea, cherry, wild waterlilies with a tiny frog nestling among them, sage, thyme, rosemary and spices.
- ISBN10 0810940957
- ISBN13 9780810940956
- Publish Date 1 September 1998
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Out of Print 13 December 2008
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Abrams
- Imprint Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 143
- Language English