Hellebore, Jerusalem artichoke flower, liverwort, colchicum and snowdrop, Johann Walter

The first flowers of the year, before spring has really begun. Green hellebores rise above the group, with large golden flowers on feathery foliage beneath them. At their feet bloom a clump of violet-blue liverwort, a pink colchicum showing its bulb, and a delicate white snowdrop, all growing from a thin strip of earth.

These are the flowers of late winter and early spring, the ones that bloom when the rest of the garden is still bare. For a 17th-century collector, showing them in flower was proof of a well-tended and well-stocked garden.

Why it works on your wall

• Fresh and delicate: soft greens and gold for a bedroom, a hallway or a bathroom
• A promise of spring: a cheerful image to brighten the end of winter
• Framing tip: a natural wood frame and a cream mount suit its delicate colours

The Nassau-Idstein florilegium

Johann Walter (1604–1677), a painter from Strasbourg, was invited at least eight times between 1654 and 1674 by Count Johann of Nassau-Idstein to paint the flowers and fruit of his garden at Idstein, near Frankfurt. The resulting florilegium served as an illustrated catalogue of the count’s collection. This plate belongs to the album of 54 gouaches on vellum kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.

• Artist: Johann Walter (1604–1677)
• Work: Nassau-Idstein florilegium
• Date: between 1654 and 1674
• Technique: gouache on vellum
• Original: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
• Theme: hellebore, snowdrop, late-winter flowers

Your print

• Colours restored from a high-definition scan of the original
• Printed in Europe on thick archival matte paper, FSC certified
• From A4 to A0, plus 40×60, 50×70, 60×90 and 70×100 cm and 12×18 to 27×40 inch sizes, all made for standard frames
• Free shipping, no minimum order. Shipped rolled in a sturdy tube

Pair it with Florist’s Anemones or Flemish Tulips, or explore all our Johann Walter prints and our botanical prints.