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PLANTS AND GARDENS48 Botanical Studies
THE SCIENTIFIC VALUE OF A BOTANICAL DRAWING lies i n its optimism, Stella Ross-Craig said of the need to draw from a
subtle union of beauty, detail, and meticulous precision. Each dried herbarium plant "I could make it live again." Her slipper
plant must be clearly distinguished from its closest relative. orchid shows that botanical drawing must often resolve the
Botanical art conceals the challenge of its making. Behind challenge of its subject's producing parts in different seasons
detailed, measured drawings, such as w e see here in Bauer's —roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruit, and seeds conventionally
Protea nitida, were specimens that often refused to stay still, appear on one plate. The rest of us are free to draw as we
opening and closing in the warmth and light of the studio, wish. Here, Mackintosh expresses the folded petals of a
or that were diseased, insect-ravaged, and wilted. With bright broken rose bud so delicately we can sense the perfume.
FRANZ BAUER
An Austrian artist who trained at
the Schonbrunn Imperial Gardens
in Vienna. Sir Joseph Banks, naturalist
explorer and advisor to King George
III invited Bauer to London in 1 7 9 0 .
The King was then establishing the
Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew,
and Franz Bauer and his brother
Ferdinand were employed there to
draw specimens. They are counted
among the most accomplished
18th-century botanical artists.
Outline Bauer prepared a pencil outline
before laying in fleshy succulent hues and
tones of watercolor. Light in this drawing is
given by the paleness of the paper showing
between washes of darker tones.
Dissections Across the lower part of this
drawing we can see dissections of seed pods
and petals. It is likely Bauer would have
studied these under a microscope. He has
made the spatial and physical relationships
in this drawing all the more real by placing
a single, delicate, petal tip over a lower leaf
Protea nitida
1796
201/4 x141/4in (513 x 362 mm)
FRANZ BAUER
