Garden and Double-Flowered Poppies - 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.

Two woodcuts show the garden poppy, Papaver hortense, and a double-flowered poppy, Papaver pleno flore. The open pink and pale flowers on the left contrast with the dense red bloom on the right. Separate studies of the seed capsules show them whole and cut open. The German text describes differences in flower and seed colour and continues on the reverse with historical apothecary preparations.

The seed capsules are as carefully drawn as the flowers, a fine example of the close observation that gives these illustrations their character. The German text and botanical illustrations show how early modern herbals combined careful observation with practical knowledge of plants.

Toned paper with scattered staining, visible creasing near the upper edge and some show-through from the opposite side.