Narcissus, Tulip and Snowdrop - Pietro Andrea Mattioli — Contemporary hand-coloured leaf from Kreutterbuch (1611)

An original botanical leaf with contemporary hand-coloured woodcuts from the 1611 Frankfurt edition of Pietro Andrea Mattioli’s Kreutterbuch. The herbal was a major Renaissance reference for the identification and medicinal uses of plants.

Eight numbered illustrations show narcissi and related bulbous plants as grouped in the herbal, including a yellow narcissus, a red-and-white tulip and a snowdrop. The woodcuts show the bulbs and roots alongside flowers, seed pods and other details, with German text and Latin labels such as Narcissus luteus and Tulipa.

The two illustrated sides give this leaf particular appeal. White and yellow narcissi fill the numbered side, while the red-and-white tulip draws the eye on the reverse. The German text and botanical illustrations show how early modern herbals combined careful observation with practical knowledge of plants.

Toned paper with scattered speckling, wear along the inner margin and show-through from the illustrations on the opposite side.