Botany of Empire

[Petr Martynovich Gofman. Collection de curiosites du Royaume des plantes. St. Petersburg: 1797-1810.]

Global plant networks, international garden design and economics are some of the topics to be covered at Dumbarton Oaks fall symposium, The Botany of Empire in the Long Eighteenth Century. While the event has been organized for scholars, parts of a companion online exhibition featuring botanicals from Dumbarton's rare book collection are already up for everyone to appreciate.

[Maria Sibylla Merian, Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, 1719.]

Included is work by adventurous spirit, Maria Sibylla Merian, the pioneering German artist and naturalist who traveled the world documenting the flora and fauna she encountered. Today she's credited with revolutionizing the field of entomology. Remember back in 2008, when The Getty and the Museum Het Rembrandthuis collaborated on Maria Sibylla Merian & Daughters: Women of Art and Science? Highlights and related books are still available over at the exhibition micro-site.