Drawing thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F , Case TOPIC, Shelf DP1

Drawing

c 1475 - 1525 (made)
Place of origin

This drawing is almost certainly a page from a manuscript herbal. We know that it was once part of a bound volume because three of the four edges of this sheet have been gilded. There are six companion pages in the V&A collection.

The drawing is fairly crude and oversimplified. You can see from the small drooping central leaf that the artist lacked the skill to represent foreshortening. Nevertheless, the detail of the plant's structure is very accurate. The textile designer James Mitten once owned this drawing. He probably used it as source material when designing floral and foliage patterns.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Gouache on vellum
Brief description
Artist unknown: page from a mansucript herbal showing a chicory plant, late 15th or early 16th century.
Physical description
Textile design
Dimensions
  • Height: 27.5cm
  • Width: 19cm
Production typeDesign
Marks and inscriptions
  • i Cirorca erbiii (written in ink)
  • Cirorca Chicoree (written in ink)
Gallery label
Unknown artist Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) About 1475-1525 This drawing was probably made for a manuscript herbal. The image is rather crudely executed in a thick, dull pigment, and the foreshortening is unconvincing, but the subject is readily identifiable. The structure of the plant suggests that the artist has studied either a living specimen or a botanically accurate model. Italy Gouache on vellum V&A: E.1045-1986
Subject depicted
Summary
This drawing is almost certainly a page from a manuscript herbal. We know that it was once part of a bound volume because three of the four edges of this sheet have been gilded. There are six companion pages in the V&A collection.

The drawing is fairly crude and oversimplified. You can see from the small drooping central leaf that the artist lacked the skill to represent foreshortening. Nevertheless, the detail of the plant's structure is very accurate. The textile designer James Mitten once owned this drawing. He probably used it as source material when designing floral and foliage patterns.
Bibliographic references
  • 'Picturing Plants: an analytical history of botanical illustration' by Gill Saunders; Zwemmer in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum; 1995; no. 19, page 35
  • 'Picturing Plants: an analytical history of botanical illustration' by Gill Saunders; KWS Publishers; 2009; no. 19, page 35
Collection
Accession number
E.1045-1986

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Record createdDecember 16, 2003
Record URL
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