Tanacetum, or African Flower – 17th-Century Botanical Plate

Bright orange flowers on a cream page framed in gold. A slender green stem rises from the bottom of the page and branches into finely cut leaves and four flower heads, from the tight green bud to the open orange bloom with its ruffled petals. A thin gold border frames the plant, and a Latin caption in gold ink names it Tanacetum, seu Flos Africanus.

In the 17th century, botanists did not yet use the names we know today, and “Flos Africanus”, the African flower, was the name given to the marigolds then fashionable in European gardens. This plate comes from a French botanical album of that period, painted with the same care as a miniature so that rare garden flowers could be admired all year round.

The age of the florilegium

In the 17th century, princes and wealthy collectors commissioned painted florilegia, albums devoted to the most remarkable flowers of their gardens. Gold borders, calligraphed captions and meticulous brushwork turned each page into a small treasure.

• Source: 17th-century French botanical album
• Technique: watercolour and gouache, gold border
• Format: vertical
• Theme: flower, botany, orange, spring

A cheerful botanical print for a kitchen, a bedroom or a hallway. It forms a lovely pair with the double tulip from the same album. More in our vintage botanical prints and spring wall art. Printed on thick matte archival paper, in 13 sizes from A4 to A0. Free shipping, no minimum order. Shipped rolled in a sturdy tube.