Treatise on Fruit Trees Pl.14
Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau
1768
Step into an 18th-century botanical garden with this meticulous study of the 'Cerise Précoce,' or Early Cherry. Although part of Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau's famous 'Traité des arbres fruitiers,' the actual drawing is credited to Madeleine Basseporte, a pioneering artist who served as the royal painter of plants for King Louis XV. The illustration dissects the plant with scientific flair: you get the delicate pink blossoms at the top, the serrated leaves, the ripe red fruit, and even a cross-section of the pit at the bottom. It’s a beautiful example of how scientists used art to catalog nature's details long before photography existed.
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