Artwork
Large Flowering Sensitive Plant, Plate 16
Large Flowering Sensitive Plant, Plate 16 is a print by the Romanticist artist Joseph Constantine Stadler. It dates from 1799 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Back then, explorers brought strange plants from far away, and scientists like Carl Linnaeus tried to name and sort them.
You see a single, giant leafy plant with pink flowers and fuzzy red stems, drawn so big it fills the whole page.
This isn’t just a pretty picture—it’s a science lesson. The plant is a *sensitive plant*, which curls up when touched. Back then, explorers brought strange plants from far away, and scientists like Carl Linnaeus tried to name and sort them. This print was part of a fancy book meant to show off the new system.
If you like this, look up *england, late 18th-early 19th century* for more weird and wonderful plants from the same time.
Overview
Large Flowering Sensitive Plant, Plate 16 is a print from The Temple of Flora, a treatise on botany featuring elaborate illustrations of plants.
Subject & Meaning
The print depicts a sensitive plant with pink flowers and fuzzy red stems, showcasing its distinctive characteristics, including its compound leaves that fold when touched.
Technique & Style
The illustration presents the plant in a large, imaginative landscape, rather than its natural environment, a common practice in the work.
Context
The print was part of a larger effort to document and classify newly discovered plant species, using the system developed by Carl Linnaeus.
Artist & collection
Artist
Joseph Constantine Stadler (1755–1828) was a German artist, born in Germany.
