Flowering Pomegranate & Rock Rose: A 17th C. Besler Hand-colored Engraving
This is a hand-colored copper-plate engraving entitled "Cistusflore Albo, Balaustium Flore Minori Romanum, Cotinus", depicting flowering Pomegranate, Rock Rose and Cotinus (Smoke Bush or Tree) plants from Basilius Besler's landmark work, Hortus Eystettensis (Garden at Eichstatt), first published in 1613 in Eichstatt, Germany near Nuremberg and later in 1640 and 1713.
Creator: Basilius Besler
Creation Year: 1640
Dimensions: Height: 20 in (50.8 cm) Width: 16.25 in (41.28 cm)
Medium: Engraving
Condition: See description below.
Reference #: 3179
This is a hand-colored copper-plate engraving entitled "Cistusflore Albo, Balaustium Flore Minori Romanum, Cotinus", depicting flowering Pomegranate, Rock Rose and Cotinus (Smoke Bush or Tree) plants from Basilius Besler's landmark work, Hortus Eystettensis (Garden at Eichstatt), first published in 1613 in Eichstatt, Germany near Nuremberg and later in 1640 and 1713.
Creator: Basilius Besler
Creation Year: 1640
Dimensions: Height: 20 in (50.8 cm) Width: 16.25 in (41.28 cm)
Medium: Engraving
Condition: See description below.
Reference #: 3179
This is a hand-colored copper-plate engraving entitled "Cistusflore Albo, Balaustium Flore Minori Romanum, Cotinus", depicting flowering Pomegranate, Rock Rose and Cotinus (Smoke Bush or Tree) plants from Basilius Besler's landmark work, Hortus Eystettensis (Garden at Eichstatt), first published in 1613 in Eichstatt, Germany near Nuremberg and later in 1640 and 1713.
Creator: Basilius Besler
Creation Year: 1640
Dimensions: Height: 20 in (50.8 cm) Width: 16.25 in (41.28 cm)
Medium: Engraving
Condition: See description below.
Reference #: 3179
This beautiful hand-colored engraving is printed on thin laid chain-linked paper. There is a short crease in the upper portion of the paper. There is also a small spot, which may represent paint used to color an adjacent flower. The print is otherwise in excellent condition, with beautiful hand-coloring.
Basilius Besler (1561–1629) was an apothecary and botanist. He was curator of the Willibaldsburg Castle garden of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, prince bishop of Eichstätt, in Bavaria, who supported Besler's academic and artistic creation and whose funds allowed the purchase of exotic plants from all over Europe. Besler spent 16 years producing drawings of 1084 varieties of plants and flowers in different seasons. These were then engraved on copper plates by master artists, resulting in the 367 beautiful and detailed engravings which comprise Besler's monumental florilegium Hortus Eystettensis, the first large-scale botanical publication.
