Treatise on Fruit Trees Pl.19
Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau
1768
Meet the 'Gros Gobet,' a magnificent cherry variety immortalized in Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau's 1768 botanical masterpiece. This plate is a perfect example of scientific illustration before the camera existed, breaking down the plant into its essential parts: the serrated leaves, the open and closed blossoms, and the juicy red fruit. You can even see the single pit isolated at the bottom right, a helpful detail for any gardener trying to identify the species. The fine hatching lines reveal this as a copperplate engraving, likely hand-colored to bring the vibrant reds and greens to life for 18th-century readers.
- Technique
- Hand-colored engraving
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