Johann Christoph Volkamer. Citrus Fruits
Iris Lauterbach
Clothbound
400 pagina's
276 x 395 mm
INT Engels, Frans, Duits
Clothbound
400 pagina's
276 x 395 mm
INT Engels, Frans, Duits
978-3-8365-3525-0
€ 125,00
Omschrijving
Have you ever thought of citrus fruits as celestial bodies, angelically suspended in the sky? Perhaps not, but J. C. Volkamer (1644–1720) did—commissioning an extravagant and breathtaking series of large-sized copperplates representing citrons, lemons, and bitter oranges in surreal scenes of majesty and wonder.
Ordering plants by post mostly from Italy, Germany, North Africa, and even the Cape of Good Hope, the Nuremberg merchant Volkamer was a devotee of the fragrant and exotic citrus at a time when such fruits were still largely unknown north of the Alps. His garden came to contain a wide variety of specimens, and he became so obsessed with the fruits that he commissioned a team of artists and copperplate engravers to create 256 plates of 170 varieties of citrus fruits, many depicted in life size, published in a two-volume treatise. The first volume appeared in 1708, with the impressively lengthy title The Nuremberg Hesperides, or Thorough Description of the Noble Citron, Lemon and Bitter Orange Fruits: How They may be Properly Planted, Cultivated, Tended and Raised in This and Neighbouring Regions.
In both volumes, Volkamer draws on years of hands-on experience to present a far-reaching account of citrus and how to tend to them—from a meticulous walk-through of how to construct temporary orangeries, glasshouses, and hothouses for growing pineapples to commentary on each fruit variety, including its size, shape, color, scent, tree or shrub, leaves, and country of origin.
In each plate, Volkamer pays tribute to the verdant landscapes of Northern Italy, his native Nuremberg, and other sites that captured his imagination. From Genovese sea views to the Schönbrunn Palace, each locale is depicted in the same obsessive detail as the fruit that overhangs it. We witness branches heavy with grapefruits arch across a sun-bathed yard in Bologna and marvel at a huge pineapple plant sprouting from a South American town. The result is at once a fantastical line-up of botanical beauty and a highly poetic tour through the lush gardens and places where these fruits grew.
Few colored sets of Volkamer’s work are still in existence today. This publication draws on the two recently discovered hand-colored volumes in the city of Fürth’s municipal archive in Schloss Burgfarrnbach. This reprint also includes 56 newly discovered unpublished illustrations that Volkamer intended to gather in a third volume.
Ordering plants by post mostly from Italy, Germany, North Africa, and even the Cape of Good Hope, the Nuremberg merchant Volkamer was a devotee of the fragrant and exotic citrus at a time when such fruits were still largely unknown north of the Alps. His garden came to contain a wide variety of specimens, and he became so obsessed with the fruits that he commissioned a team of artists and copperplate engravers to create 256 plates of 170 varieties of citrus fruits, many depicted in life size, published in a two-volume treatise. The first volume appeared in 1708, with the impressively lengthy title The Nuremberg Hesperides, or Thorough Description of the Noble Citron, Lemon and Bitter Orange Fruits: How They may be Properly Planted, Cultivated, Tended and Raised in This and Neighbouring Regions.
In both volumes, Volkamer draws on years of hands-on experience to present a far-reaching account of citrus and how to tend to them—from a meticulous walk-through of how to construct temporary orangeries, glasshouses, and hothouses for growing pineapples to commentary on each fruit variety, including its size, shape, color, scent, tree or shrub, leaves, and country of origin.
In each plate, Volkamer pays tribute to the verdant landscapes of Northern Italy, his native Nuremberg, and other sites that captured his imagination. From Genovese sea views to the Schönbrunn Palace, each locale is depicted in the same obsessive detail as the fruit that overhangs it. We witness branches heavy with grapefruits arch across a sun-bathed yard in Bologna and marvel at a huge pineapple plant sprouting from a South American town. The result is at once a fantastical line-up of botanical beauty and a highly poetic tour through the lush gardens and places where these fruits grew.
Few colored sets of Volkamer’s work are still in existence today. This publication draws on the two recently discovered hand-colored volumes in the city of Fürth’s municipal archive in Schloss Burgfarrnbach. This reprint also includes 56 newly discovered unpublished illustrations that Volkamer intended to gather in a third volume.