Day Lily
Watercolour
1600-1700 (painted)
1600-1700 (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This watercolour is part of the 'Paper Museum' assembled by the 17th-century Roman antiquarian and collector Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588-1657). This was a vast visual encyclopaedia of the ancient and natural worlds, consisting of thousands of drawings and prints. Of roughly 7000 surviving drawings from the Paper Museum, around 2500 are of natural history subjects, including fruit and plants.
Cassiano was a member of Europe's first modern scientific academy, the prestigious Accademia dei Lincei, established in Rome in 1603 - half a century before either the Royal Society in London or the Académie des Sciences in Paris. The Accademia, which numbered Galileo amongst its members, placed great emphasis on observation as the key to unravelling the mysteries of nature.
For his Paper Museum Cassiano commissioned artists to make drawings directly from specimens; the resulting works were intended to be clear and objective scientific records. Little is known about these artists, due to the documentary bias of the visual encyclopaedia. However, many of the drawings are attributed on stylistic grounds to Vincenzo Leonardi, who was often employed by Cassiano.
Cassiano was a member of Europe's first modern scientific academy, the prestigious Accademia dei Lincei, established in Rome in 1603 - half a century before either the Royal Society in London or the Académie des Sciences in Paris. The Accademia, which numbered Galileo amongst its members, placed great emphasis on observation as the key to unravelling the mysteries of nature.
For his Paper Museum Cassiano commissioned artists to make drawings directly from specimens; the resulting works were intended to be clear and objective scientific records. Little is known about these artists, due to the documentary bias of the visual encyclopaedia. However, many of the drawings are attributed on stylistic grounds to Vincenzo Leonardi, who was often employed by Cassiano.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Day Lily (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Pencil, watercolour and bodycolour |
| Brief description | Anonymous: The Day Lily (Hyacintus Poeticus) and its bulb; Italian; 17th century; pencil, watercolour and bodycolour, from the 'Paper Museum' of Cassiano dal Pozzo |
| Marks and inscriptions |
|
| Gallery label | Unknown artist
Day Lily (Hyacintus poeticus)
1600-1700
The roots and underground parts of plants were often of medical value to the herbalist and apothecary. Knowing this, the illustrator of a herbal frequently includes them in his account of the plant. The handwritten note on this watercolour describes how the bulb of the day lily can be used to treat female ailments.
Italy
Pencil, watercolour and bodycolour
V&A: E.735-1949 |
| Object history | From Cassiano dal Pozzo's 'paper museum', a vast visual encyclopedia consisting of drawings and prints. This drawing belongs to a group of five purchased by the V&A Museum in 1949 from Mrs de Beer. These drawings '...were dispersed from the Royal Library early this century... All these drawings are laid down onto 18th-century paper, and are framed by the typical wash border used by George III's Librarian for many of the drawings...' (information provided by Mrs Henrietta Ryan, Deputy Curator of the Print Room, The Royal Library, Windsor Castle). |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This watercolour is part of the 'Paper Museum' assembled by the 17th-century Roman antiquarian and collector Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588-1657). This was a vast visual encyclopaedia of the ancient and natural worlds, consisting of thousands of drawings and prints. Of roughly 7000 surviving drawings from the Paper Museum, around 2500 are of natural history subjects, including fruit and plants. Cassiano was a member of Europe's first modern scientific academy, the prestigious Accademia dei Lincei, established in Rome in 1603 - half a century before either the Royal Society in London or the Académie des Sciences in Paris. The Accademia, which numbered Galileo amongst its members, placed great emphasis on observation as the key to unravelling the mysteries of nature. For his Paper Museum Cassiano commissioned artists to make drawings directly from specimens; the resulting works were intended to be clear and objective scientific records. Little is known about these artists, due to the documentary bias of the visual encyclopaedia. However, many of the drawings are attributed on stylistic grounds to Vincenzo Leonardi, who was often employed by Cassiano. |
| Bibliographic reference | Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1949, London: HMSO, 1961. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.735-1949 |
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| Record created | July 1, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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