Tulips – Emanuel Sweerts, 1612
€975
Copper engraving of tulips from the “Florilegium Amplissimum et Selectissimum,” made in 1612 by Emanuel Sweerts, coloured by a later hand. Size (platemark): approx. 34 x 21 cm.
Emanuel Sweerts (1552–1612) was an Amsterdam-based flower grower who skillfully capitalized on the high demand for rare plants in the seventeenth century. In 1612, at the request of Emperor Rudolf II of the Holy Roman Empire, he published an illustrated catalogue featuring all the plants he could supply: the Florilegium Amplissimum et Selectissimum, “in which not only various types of the most exquisite and never-before-seen flowers are presented, but also numerous rare specimens.” Among them were dozens of tulip varieties, as depicted in this engraving.
His beautifully illustrated bulbs captured the imagination, and the six editions of his book, published between 1612 and 1647 in Frankfurt and Amsterdam, significantly contributed to the growing popularity of tulips – ultimately leading to the famous tulip mania. Sweerts’ “very extensive and most exquisite florilegium” marked the beginning of the professionalization of flower cultivation in the Netherlands.
Literature: Claus Nissen (1966) – Die Botanische Buchillustration, nr. 1921
Price: Euro 975,-
