The Temple of Flora

By Robert John Thornton, 1768-1837

Robert John Thornton (1768-1837), a London physician, published The Temple of Flora between 1799 and 1807 as the third part of his New Illustration of the Sexual System of Carolus von Linnaeus. Artists such as Philip Reinagle, Peter Henderson and Sydenham Edwards painted the flowers, which Thornton placed in settings that evoke their origins; the plates combine mezzotint, aquatint, stipple and line engraving, printed in colour and finished by hand.

The project ruined Thornton: a lottery he organised in 1811 to raise funds failed, and he died poor.

Published

1799-1807

Format

Folio

Sheet

17¾ × 21¾ in, original size

Original in

Teylers Museum, Haarlem

In our collection

30 prints