Richard Earlom (British, 1743-1822)
after Ramsay Richard Reinagle (British, 1775-1862)
published by Robert John Thornton (English, 1768-1837)
The Superb Lily, from The Temple of Flora
INV-2248
Richard Earlom (British, 1743-1822)
after Ramsay Richard Reinagle (British, 1775-1862)
published by Robert John Thornton (English, 1768-1837)1799
The Superb Lily, from The Temple of Flora
Richard Earlom (British, 1743-1822) after Ramsay Richard Reinagle (British, 1775-1862) published by Robert John Thornton (English, 1768-1837) →mezzotintprint
Date
1799
Medium
Color mezzotint, aquatint and etching, inked à la poupée, heightened with hand-colored watercolor on cream wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 44.7 × 36 cm (17 5/8 × 14 3/16 in.); Plate: 48 × 36 cm (18 15/16 × 14 3/16 in.); Sheet: 53.5 × 42.5 cm (21 1/8 × 16 3/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Walter S. Brewster
The consummate mezzotint engraver Richard Earlom produced this large-scale mixed-media print of the Superb Lily (seen here in the second of four substantially different states) around 1799. The image was intended to be included in botanist Richard John Thornton’s grand publication of over life-sized prints of 70 species of flora, celebrating Carl Linnaeus’s 1735 classification system. By 1810, Thornton issued an apology to his neglected subscribers and printed extra impressions for an 1811 lottery. Despite his efforts to raise money—including the 1812 reduced-scale quarto edition of the publication—Thornton had difficulty ameliorating his financial situation. Nonetheless, the 33 plates completed at full scale remain absolute masterpieces.
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