Master of Claude de France’s Book of Flower Studies (ca. 1510–1515) — The Public Domain Review

Unlike earlier works of botanical illustration in the vade mecum mode, which contained educational inscriptions, no descriptive text is present here and the flowers seem less like supportive stakes for medicinal learning or arcane symbolism, more like freestanding objects of beauty. The chosen plants are of European origin. They tend to skew away from ornamental flowers and toward crops and medicinal herbs. Opaque watercolors, organic glazes, and gold and silver paint come together to create a startling play of perspective, as the plants appear to grow outward from the paper toward the beholder’s gaze. Experimentations in scale delight: a jaybird perches on the leaf of a giant blackberry, as if waiting for the fruit to ripen; a long-eared owl looks confused by the enormity of a succulent unfurling above its head. Toward the end of the manuscript, the alphabet is reproduced across recto and verso, imposed over an apothecary rose and a white rose of York by means of the parchment’s translucence. Is this a cryptic nod toward the language of flowers? A hint that God spelled out his intentions across the phonemes of stamen and stigma? The latter flower is approached by a stag beetle — a symbol of evil in this period and perhaps a reminder that grace flourishes against all odds.