Balsamina femina [Balsam], Bellis [English Daisy] Plate 10
Calendula [European Marigold], Caltha [Marsh Marigold], Caltha palustris [Cowslip] [Pl. 11]
Geranium seu Noctu Olens [Pelargonium] [Pl. 22]
Lilium [Lilies] [Pl. 36]
Lilium, sive Corona Imperialis [Crown Imperial Lily], Linaria [Toadflax] [Pl. 37]
Ranunculus [Buttercup or Crowfoot] Plate 51
Stramonia [Angel's Trumpet], Syringa [Lilac] [Pl. 57]
Viola Martia [Violet], Virga Aurea, Yucca, Xeranthemum [Immortelle] [Pl. 65]
Lively and highly decorative botanical prints, with rich hand-coloring, all in a horizontal format. The treatment of the flowers is almost sculptural, emphasizing their rounded forms. The compositions overall have an informal quality, filling the page with portrayals of garden plants and details. This series of prints was intended for the engravings to serve as scientific studies for botanists, guides for gardeners and horticulturists, and as inspiration for decorative arts designers in creating patterns for china, fabrics, wall paper, etc.
Filippo Arena was a Jesuit professor of mathematics and philosophy in Palermo. He was interested in the phenomenon of pollination of flowers by insects, which he explored in his work La Natura e Coltura dei Fiori Fisicamente Esposta, published under the name of his nephew, Abbot Ignazio Arena. The work was composed of three volumes: the first on botany and the anatomy and fertilization of flowers, the other two on horticulture, including 60 pages devoted to an in-depth discourse on the creation of a flower garden. The volumes contain a catalog of "noble" species with detailed descriptions of every flower represented in the 65 plates of La Natura e Coltura dei Fiori Fisicamente Esposta. These images were composed by Arena in collaboration with his colleague, painter Mario Cammerari. Many of the renditions of individual flowers were derived from earlier publications, such as Johann Weinmann's Phytanthoza Iconographia and G.B. Ferrari's De Florum Cultura.
Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall toning, light wear, soft creases. Vertical fold, as issued, not obtrusive.
References:
Nissen BBI 48; Pritzel 223; Tomasi. An Oak Spring Flora. 1997, p. 38.
Shejbal, J. "Gli Autori ed Artisti." Amo Bulbi. http://www.amo-bulbi.it/gli_artisti.htm (16 March 2004). |
