Artwork Page for The Temple of Flora, or Garden of Nature: A Group of Auriculas

Details / Information for The Temple of Flora, or Garden of Nature: A Group of Auriculas

The Temple of Flora, or Garden of Nature: A Group of Auriculas

1803

Robert John Thornton

(British, 1768–1837)
Culture
England, late 18th-early 19th Century
Medium
aquatint, stipple, and etching with watercolor added by hand
Credit Line
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 1949.415
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print

Description

The greatest English botanical publication of the early 19th century was Dr. Robert John Thornton’s Temple of Flora. Although Thornton studied medicine, his passion was botany and he soon embarked upon a major publishing venture that brought him both fame and financial ruin. The work, New Illustrations of the Sexual System of Linnaeus, was the most sumptuous botanical publication ever produced. The third section, the famous Temple of Flora, has 28 flower portraits set not against a plain conventional background but in the full richness of their natural setting. Unfortunately the day of the great florilegia had passed and Thornton died in poverty in 1837.
A vertically oriented color print depicts four clusters of auriculas with white centers set against craggy, blue-gray mountains. Dark purple flowers sit at the left, yellow and navy blue in the center, and green-edged blossoms to the right. Large, wavy green leaves anchor the plants in the foreground under a cloudy sky. Below the image, cursive text identifies the subject as "A Group of Auriculas."

The Temple of Flora, or Garden of Nature: A Group of Auriculas

1803

Robert John Thornton

(British, 1768–1837)
England, late 18th-early 19th Century

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