Prunes 1544 - 1585

This is a page from Pierandrea Mattioli’s illustrated book about plants, made around 1550. The overall visual effect is one of meticulous order, achieved through a balanced composition. The page is divided into neat textual blocks and detailed illustrations of plums at different stages. Mattioli uses line, color, and form with great precision. Notice how the dark plums on the left contrast with the lighter ones on the right, each branch rendered with careful attention to the shape of the leaves and the texture of the fruit. The artist isn't just showing us what plums look like, he is classifying them. The image is part of a larger semiotic project: language and image function together to fix and disseminate knowledge. Consider how the symmetry and clarity here reflect the Renaissance humanist project of organizing and understanding the natural world through empirical observation and classical knowledge. Yet, this isn't simply a neutral depiction; it's an active construction of meaning. The very act of illustration, selection, and categorization imposes a particular order on nature, underscoring how our understanding of the world is always mediated through representation.