An account of the development of botanical illustration for scientific purposes

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What is scientific botanical illustration?

The emphasis of botanical illustration is on science rather than visual art.

Botanical illustration is always a true and lifelike representation of a plant. It should highlight a plant's particular distinguishing features which enable botanists to tell one plant from another
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The fundamental factor in scientific quality of a botanical illustration is not the medium the artist chooses to use or the  technology used for its representation, but the artist's understanding of plant morphology
Stephen A Harris | The Scientific Context of Botanical Illustration in 'A New Flowering'

See also Scientific Botanical Illustration in the Botany Section of this site for practical tips for how to draw plants accurately.

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What's required of a botanical illustration?
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Botanical illustrations should be based on:

• observation of living plant material
• accurate measurement of the different parts of the plant
• work with expert botanists who can provide the necessary advice as to what aspects to emphasise
• a very good understanding of the morphology of the plant - shapes and form are a great help in distinguishing one plant from another
• identification of the key (unique) features of the plant - at different stages of its life cycle
• association with a herbarium specimen (when part of a scientific collection) and notes of its habitat and growth

Standards for contemporary botanical illustration tend to be set by the professional botanical illustrators who work for the botanical gardens and professional publications.

Fragmenta botanica, figuris coloratis illustrata :ab anno 1800 ad annum 1809 per sex fasciculos edita /opera et sumptibus Nicolai Josephi Jacquin

REFERENCE:

• Illustrations by Alice R.Tangerini, from the Catalog of Botanical Illustrations, Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution plus an explanation of her role
• ​Scientific illustrations by Lucy T. Smith who produces botanical illustrations for the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew
• Drawing Plants: Ten Pointers to Botanical Illustration (Plant Talk April 1999) Rosemary Wise, employed as botanical artist for the department of Plant Sciences at Oxford University since 1965, provides guidance on what is required. 

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How to have a career in botanical illustration
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​Below is a video about life as a botanical illustrator working for the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney.

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The beginnings of botanical illustration
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The development of illustrations of plants was slow and lagged behind illustrations relating to people and animals.

Illustration is associated with the discovery of the importance of plants for medicinal purposes. People draw what's important.

EGYPT - Thebes 1,500 years BC

There's some limited evidence of the illustration of plants in Egypt - in terms of stone reliefs at on the walls of the room next to the Festival Hall of Thutmose III, in the Precinct of Amun-Re, Karnak. 

The Botanical garden of Thutmose III represents the fauna and especially flora of the Egyptian empire at its peak. A stone relief contains realistic descriptions of some 275 species.

A detail of The Botanical garden of Thutmose III (via Wikimedia Commons)

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Resources for understanding botanical illustration
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The following are links to various resources that explain and provide information about the development of botanical illustration

Museums

• Study Room resource: Botanical illustration | Victoria and Albert Museum - These Study Room resources provide a little information about the art of botanical drawing from the 15th century to the present day. ​

Botanic Gardens

• Botanical Illustration | Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) - The main goal of botanical illustration is not art, but scientific accuracy​ 

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This page is a work in progress.