Dramatic image of butterflies on pink orchid flowers

by Robert, Nicolas

Brightly coloured pair of butterflies - one each way.

Superb hand-coloured reproduction from a rare etching-engraving by French flower painter and miniaturist, Nicolas Robert (1614-1685) for Variae ac multiformes florum species first published in Rome in 1640 by Giovanni Battista de Rossi, who printed flower books at the Piazza Navona in Rome.

Nicolas combined etching and engraving in his 26 beautiful compositions of nature. Mostly illustrating superior flowers, this one illustrates butterflies on a beautiful spray of orchids. These were some of the most spectacular natural history compositions ever done.

Image, 410 x 255mm (16 1/8 x 10 inches). Paper, 565 x 460mm (22 ½ x 18 inches).  (The original work was only 215 x 315mm)