Citrus garden

Giovanni Battista Ferrari (1582-1655) and Cornelis Bloemart (1603-1684)

Hesperides sive de Malorum Aureorum Culrura et Usu Libri Quatuor
Rome: Herman Scheus, 1646
Hand-colored copperplate engravings
19” x 14 1/4” framed

These scenes of citrus fruit cultivation, were part of the first book devoted to citrus fruit. Thespecimens, and information included in this book such as classification, origin and locations,methods of cultivation, and medical uses of citrus fruits, was compiled by the Italian Jesuit scholarand professor Giovanni Battista Ferrari. The sumptuous illustrations of the fruit and cultivationscenes were by Dutch printmaker Cornelius Bloemart, whom was from a family of Dutch artists andwas known as a great botanical artist. This series includes 110 plates of depictions of mainly life-sizefruits, whole and in section, as well as foliage and flowers, along with a few cultivation and
allegorical scenes.