1 68 Botanical Illustration [ch. 



in Venice in 1 5 1 1 , is illustrated in great part with wood- 

 cuts based on the original figures. They have, however, 

 a very different appearance, since a great deal of shading is 

 introduced, and in some cases parallel lines are laid in with 

 considerable dexterity. 



'The Grete Herball' and a number of works of the 

 early sixteenth century derived from the ' Herbarius zu 

 Teutsch,' the ' Ortus Sanitatis,' and similar sources, are of 

 no importance in the history of botanical illustration, since 

 scarcely any of their figures are original. The oft-repeated 

 set of wood-cuts, ultimately derived from the ' Herbarius 

 zu Teutsch,' were also used to illustrate Hieronymus Braun- 

 schweig's Distillation Book (Liber de arte distillandi de 

 Simplicibus, 1500). That the conventional figures of the 

 period did not satisfy the botanist is shown by some 

 interesting remarks by Hieronymus at the conclusion of 

 his work. He tells the reader that he must attend to the 

 text rather than the figures, "for the figures are nothing 

 more than a feast for the eyes, and for the information of 

 those who cannot read or write 1 ." 



During the first three decades of the sixteenth century, 

 the art of botanical illustration was practically in abeyance 

 in Europe. Such books as were published were chiefly 

 supplied with mere copies of older wood-cuts. But, in 1530, 

 an entirely new era was inaugurated with the appearance 

 of Brunfels' great work, the ' Herbarum vivse eicones,' in 

 which a number of plants native to Germany, or commonly 

 cultivated there, were drawn with a beauty and fidelity 

 which have rarely been surpassed (Text-figs. 22, 23, 24, 25, 

 66, 82, 83, 84). It is interesting to recall that the date 

 1530 is often taken, in the study of other arts (e.g. stained 

 glass), as the limit of the "Gothic" period, and the beginning 

 of the " Renaissance." 



Brunfels' illustrations represent a notable advance on 

 any previous botanical wood-cuts, so much so, indeed, that 

 the suddenness of the improvement seems to call for some 

 special explanation. On taking a broader view of the 

 subject, we find that, at the beginning of the sixteenth 

 century, there was a marked advance in all the branches of 



1 "wan die figuren nit anders synd dann ein ougenweid und ein an 

 zeigung geben ist die weder schriben noch lesen kundent." 



