Botanical Icons: Critical Practices of Illustration in the Premodern Mediterranean

This book explores the history of botanical illustration in the Mediterranean from antiquity to the early modern period, highlighting the diverse and sophisticated modes of plant depiction that emerged and influenced modern botanical illustration practices. It demonstrates that many critical practices characteristic of modern botanical illustrations began in premodern manuscript culture and emphasizes continuity, intercultural collaboration, and the gradual transformation of Mediterranean traditions.

Format: Hardback
Length: 344 pages
Publication date: 23 April 2024
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

This captivating book delves into the captivating history of botanical illustration in the Mediterranean region, spanning from antiquity to the early modern era. Through meticulous examination of Greek, Latin, and Arabic botanical inquiry during this early period, Andrew Griebeler unveils the remarkable emergence and evolution of diverse and sophisticated modes of plant depiction. These practices, which are now considered fundamental to modern botanical illustration, took shape and gradually became established. Griebeler's extensive research encompasses centuries of remarkable and diverse documentation from across Europe and the Mediterranean, providing a rich tapestry of insights.

Botanical Icons, a visual feast, presents a wealth of evidence supporting a vibrant and critical tradition of botanical inquiry and nature observation in the late antique and medieval Mediterranean. The author reveals that many of the critical practices characteristic of modern botanical illustrations had their origins in premodern manuscript culture. Consequently, he demonstrates that the distinctions between pre- and early modern botanical illustration revolve more around the advent of print, the expansion of collections and documentation, and the narrowing of the range of accepted forms of illustration than on the invention of critical and observational practices exclusive to modernity.

Griebeler's emphasis on continuity, intercultural collaboration, and the gradual transformation of Mediterranean traditions of critical botanical illustration is compelling. It challenges prevailing narratives of rupture and Western European exceptionalism in the histories of art and science. This book offers a fresh perspective, shedding light on the rich tapestry of botanical knowledge and illustration that flourished in the Mediterranean region and laid the foundation for the practices we recognize today. It is a valuable resource for scholars, artists, and anyone with an interest in the history of botanical illustration and the broader cultural context of the late antique and medieval Mediterranean.

Weight: 1275g
Dimension: 254 x 178 x 33 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226826790