Containing many woodcuts drawn from botanical specimens, Carolus Clusius's Rariorum plantarum is an excellent example of the renewed interest in botany and botanical gardens which flourished in during the Renaissance. Settling in Leiden, following services under notable patrons such as Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Fugger banking family, Clusius became director of the city's new botanical garden in 1593. His knowledge of botany, acquired through his travels in Europe, allowed Clusius to translate older works on natural history and to publish his own writings on the flora of Spain and Portugal (1576) and Austria and Hungary (1583). Rariorum plantarum combines these two works and includes lavish woodcut illustrations from the publisher Christopher Plantin (c. 1520-89). Clusius was responsible for the dissemination of bulbs and tubers, such as tulips and hyacinths, throughout Europe; and the engraved title page for the volume contains images of these as well as engravings of the first gardener, Adam, and the Classical scholars, Theophrastus and Dioscorides, the fathers of botanical science.

Entry adapted from Painting Paradise, London 2015.