The Blue Egyptian Water Lily, from "The Temple of Flora, or Garden of Nature"
Engraver Joseph Constantine Stadler German
After Peter Charles Henderson British
Publisher Robert John Thornton British
Not on view
This delicately colored aquatint depicts blue Egyptian water lily (Nymphaea coerulea) rising from the waters of the Nile at Aboukir Bay, with palm trees and a mosque in the middle distance.The site would have reminded viewers of Nelson's 1798 victory over the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile. Dr. John Thornton devoted his personal fortune to the project which celebrated recent discoveries relating to floral reproduction by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus. Flowers from all corners of the globe are shown in native habitats (although costs allowed only thirty-two of a planned seventy prints to be published). Thirteen engravers worked from paintings and drawings supplied by botanical artists, the plates were etched using a combination of aquatint, stipple and mezzotint, printed in color "à la poupée" then enhanced with watercolor additions. Size, composition and sensitive coloring together suggest that these works hoped to raise botanical art to a level that rivaled more exalted genres.
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