Le Moyne Watercolor of a German Iris
LE MOYNE DE MORGUES, Jacques (c. 1533–1588).
f.8: German Iris with Insect.
Watercolor and gouache on paper prepared as vellum. ca. 1565.
7 3/4" x 5 3/4" sheet; 16 1/4" x 14 1/4" framed.
Provenance: DuMarry (from the inscription on the frontispiece).
France's greatest Hugenot Renaissance Natural History artist.These magnificent botanical paintings, executed in watercolor and gouache, are part of only the fifth substantial compendium of works by Jacques Le Moyne to be identified to date. Le Moyne was among a rare and exclusive group of artists who specialized in the creation of florilegia. Most examples were printed, following in the tradition of the herbals of such authors as Leonhart Fuchs, but a few original painted florilegia were commissioned by wealthy amateur botanists and aristocrats who wished to have pictorial records of the valuable plants to be found in their gardens. The extraordinary career and oeuvre of the Huguenot artist Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues is unique in the history of art; he worked as a court artist in France, under Charles IX, traveled to Florida in 1564, as official artist and cartographer to the ill-fated French attempt to establish a colony there, and to have ended his career as a highly regarded botanical artist in Elizabethan London, where his patrons included Sir Walter Raleigh and Lady Mary Sidney. The superior quality of the present work is unquestionable. In color and attention to detail the present works relates most closely to that in the Victoria and Albert Museum, but is unsurpassed in the freshness and spontaneity of the images, perhaps reflecting the early date of the manuscript, completed during the earlier part of Le Moyne?s career in France. Each flower seems to burst forth from the sheet, the three-dimensional quality of the composition heightened by the surrounding framing lines. These magnificent watercolors are rare works of the sixteenth century and fully justify Le Moyne?s reputation as one of the most exceptional artists to have worked in Elizabethan England. The delicate nuances of color and three-dimensional quality of the images is truly breathtaking and most skillfully achieved. Each composition stands alone as a masterpiece.
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LE MOYNE DE MORGUES, Jacques (c. 1533–1588).
f.8: German Iris with Insect.
Watercolor and gouache on paper prepared as vellum. ca. 1565.
7 3/4" x 5 3/4" sheet; 16 1/4" x 14 1/4" framed.
Provenance: DuMarry (from the inscription on the frontispiece).
France's greatest Hugenot Renaissance Natural History artist.These magnificent botanical paintings, executed in watercolor and gouache, are part of only the fifth substantial compendium of works by Jacques Le Moyne to be identified to date. Le Moyne was among a rare and exclusive group of artists who specialized in the creation of florilegia. Most examples were printed, following in the tradition of the herbals of such authors as Leonhart Fuchs, but a few original painted florilegia were commissioned by wealthy amateur botanists and aristocrats who wished to have pictorial records of the valuable plants to be found in their gardens. The extraordinary career and oeuvre of the Huguenot artist Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues is unique in the history of art; he worked as a court artist in France, under Charles IX, traveled to Florida in 1564, as official artist and cartographer to the ill-fated French attempt to establish a colony there, and to have ended his career as a highly regarded botanical artist in Elizabethan London, where his patrons included Sir Walter Raleigh and Lady Mary Sidney. The superior quality of the present work is unquestionable. In color and attention to detail the present works relates most closely to that in the Victoria and Albert Museum, but is unsurpassed in the freshness and spontaneity of the images, perhaps reflecting the early date of the manuscript, completed during the earlier part of Le Moyne?s career in France. Each flower seems to burst forth from the sheet, the three-dimensional quality of the composition heightened by the surrounding framing lines. These magnificent watercolors are rare works of the sixteenth century and fully justify Le Moyne?s reputation as one of the most exceptional artists to have worked in Elizabethan England. The delicate nuances of color and three-dimensional quality of the images is truly breathtaking and most skillfully achieved. Each composition stands alone as a masterpiece.
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