Before cameras, there was botanical art. Early herbals were noted for their woodcuts. Later etchings and lithographs created more detailed prints. At their best botanical representations often were better for identification than photos. The artist had the control to make sure key characters were displayed. We may look at some of the early woodcuts and wonder how people identified plants based upon the stylized representations but when botanical art reached its prime plants were depicted extremely accurately. This was no small task since artists were often presented with flowers that were about to wilt or worse had been pressed between sheets of paper. But for the most part the images they created would make it easy to identify the plant.
Curtis's Botanical Magazine Gallery 1787 to present | Redoute's Les Liliaceae Gallery 1805-1816 | Gartenflora Gallery 1872-1880 |
Gallery of Plates In Dykes 1914 | Gallery of Plates In Addisonia 1924 | Gallery of Art from The Garden 1924 |
Gallery of Plates In Gerarde's Herbal 1597 | Gallery of Plates In Reichenbach's Icones 1837-1838 |
Jean Witt Gallery awaiting images 2015 | Vacant Gallery awaiting images 2015 | Vacant Gallery awaiting images 2015 | |
For more information on historic Irises visit the Historic Iris Preservation Society at
-- BobPries - 2014-11-26