Illustrationstavle til planteværk 1780 - 1836

Oluf Bagge created this plant study, "Illustrationstavle til planteværk," using pen and ink. The composition centers on a cluster of spiky leaves, radiating outward, a clear and compelling expression of botanical structure. Bagge contrasts the central plant with smaller, fragmented views of its anatomy. These details, meticulously rendered, invite us to dissect and understand the plant’s inner workings. Here, form does not merely follow function; it reveals it. The linearity of Bagge's strokes, the careful arrangement of elements, all contribute to a semiotic system. Each line and shape acts as a sign, directing us toward a scientific reading of the natural world. The plant is not presented as a whole, but in dissected parts, reflecting a structuralist approach to understanding nature through its components. Bagge invites us to decode the plant, not just as an object of beauty, but as a complex structure, open to analytical interpretation.