Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2017.2.4 |
Object Name |
|
Description |
"Guaiacana," hand-colored copperplate engraving, Plate 13 from Hortus Eystettensis (The Garden of Eichstätt), by Basil (Basilius) Besler, engraved by Wolfgang Kilian et al. Nuremberg, second edition, 1640. Guaiacana is a genus of over 700 species of deciduous and evergreen trees, shrubs, and small bushes. Basil Besler was an apothecary and botanist who managed the gardens of Bishop Johann Conrad in Eichstatt, Germany. The Bishop's remarkable garden was one of the most extensive in Europe, containing a huge variety of European shrubs and flowering plants, as well as exotic specimens from Asia and the Americas. Besler used this encyclopedic resource as the basis for the Hortus Eystettensis (The Garden of Eichstätt), in which he studied and depicted over a thousand flowers, representing 667 species in all. Besler's great botanical work is a landmark of botanical documentation and pre-Linnaean classification. Each plant is given a distinct and often descriptive Latin title, and related species are grouped together on the same plate, or over a series of plates. Almost all specimens are shown complete and accurately colored, including delineations of their root systems, which give a sense of the living plant. |
Title |
Guaiacana, Plate 13 from Hortus Eystettensis, second edition |
Date |
1640 |
Role of Creator |
Illustrator |
Creator |
Besler, Basil |
Role of Creator 2 |
Engraver |
Creator 2 |
Kilian, Wolfgang |
Medium |
hand color engraving |
Material |
paper |
Dimensions |
H-20 W-16 inches |
Credit line |
Museum purchase made possible by Jeffery M. Leving |
Place of Origin |
Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Nuremberg |
Subjects |
Gardens Herbal Illustration, Botanical Plants |