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
All 30 prints
The complete set
The Temple of Flora is also available as a complete set: every plate we hold, as a facsimile at the original size, with a title page, a contents page and a certificate, in a Solander box.
Limited to 50 sets. Price on request.