Picturing Plants: An Analytical History of Botanical Illustrations

Drawing on a rich archive of material in the Victoria and Albert Museum, much of it unpublished until now, Saunders presents works ranging from the fifteenth-century printed book to the art of contemporary illustrators. She includes acknowledged masters such as Ehret and Redouté as well as lesser-known examples from China, Japan, and India.

In addition to their intrinsic beauty, plant illustrations have mirrored the curious and fascinating relationship between art and science. The artist’s challenge has been to reconcile the often conflicting demands of those disciplines within a single image. Picturing Plants captures both this complex cultural history and the distinctive loveliness of botanical illustration, bringing a fresh approach to a perennially fascinating subject.