Grand Lily illustration. Besler Lily with Centaurium print.

by Besler, Basilius

Besler large botanical illustration of a brightly-coloured Lily with intricately illustrated bulb, reprodouced from a superb 17th century hand-coloured copperplate engravings by Basilius Besler (1561-1629) for his Hortus Eystettensis- the first and grandest florilegium.

Besler’s 368 beautiful large engraved plates of 1086 plants was published in Nuremberg between 1561 and 1613 to commemorate the celebrated gardens of Besler’s patron, the ruling bishop, Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, Prince Bishop of Eichstatt, who financed the enormous project. While responsible for the bishop’s gardens, in 1586 Besler took over the pharmacy at Nuremberg hay market and established his own extensive botanic garden. Basilius Besler became most famous as a botanist and collector of  natural history specimens.

The picture does not do justice to the quality of this wonderful reproduction print. Image size approximately 47 x 37cm.