r,.'.- 



m.wi^,^ rx- .. ^^.^^^,L^j_._ , ' "-, n".^.' 



"," ",-,-1 ,"'--:-:- -,y\-" "-y. [yji' 



^ .*, ^*^ *^** »*«. *«fc i^,-^_ j^ 



I L-\-,-,- - ' ' - -^-|- 



Fig. 5. PIERRE-JOSEPH REDOUTE — "Les Liliacees" (left) and "Plantes Grasses" (right). The same plant, 



Bulbine caulescens L., showing the gain in effect from the larger plate size. 



Monograph ia Generum Aloes et 



. OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS OF SUCCULENTS 



The " Plantes Grasses '* came as a welcome answer to Haworth's plea that his own monographs of succulents 

 would one day be supplemented by illustrations. In turn these beautiful plates were to act as a source of 

 inspiration to others. One such was the young Prince Salm-Dyck, who was so impressed with them that he became 

 a friend and pupil of Redoute and eventually produced a splendid *' 

 Mesembryanthemi " with 352 illustrations, all by his own hand.^« 



However, Redoute produced other works beside which even the " Plantes Grasses '' was eclipsed in grandeur 

 and opulence. Two reasons contribute to this eclipse. The first is the plants themselves. Succulents do not 

 lend themselves to the flamboyance of display of lilies and roses, and while offering a greater challenge to the 

 artist the result has less immediate and universal an appeal to the public eye. Second, and in part as a result of 

 this, the other books mostly adopted (at least in their de luxe editions) a large page and plate size. Just how 

 great a difference this can make is seen by comparing side by side the succulents figured in both " Les Plantes 

 Grasses " and the large paper edition of " Les Liliacees " (Fig. 5). In every case the plate in the latter work is 

 double the size and has a wealth of minute detail and shading, a superb sweep and splendour that make its 

 counterpart seem mean and pinched by comparison. In spite of the inclusion here of dissections and enlargements 

 to add botanical interest in the smaller book. The eight succulents included in this work are : 



P. -J. REDOUTE 



Les Liliacees* 



1802-16 



8 Vols. 



Vol. Plate 



Text by A. P. De CANDOLLE et alia. 



De CandoIIe's name 



5 [283J Anthericum alooides (plate) 



Anthericum aloides (text) 

 (c.f. PI. Gr. 26) 



Modern name 



Bulbine alooides 



(L.) Willd. 



Authority 

 Bak. in Fl. Cap. VI 



* It would be churlish and ungallant to ask what Agaves and Furcroeos are doing in a book entitled Liliaceae 

 An artist of Redoute's standing could get away with Bananas and Pondweeds in the Lily family if he wanted 

 to-in fact, he actually does ! (Plates 443-4. 206). One glance at this sumptuous production and all 

 such quibbles dissolve like icicles before a furnace. 



16 



