Skræppeplanter. 1848

P.C. Skovgaard made this study of butterbur plants on paper, sometime in the mid-19th century. Skovgaard was a central figure in the Danish Golden Age, a period marked by a surge of national romanticism and a focus on distinctly Danish themes. However, his detailed rendering of flora goes beyond mere national pride. It reflects the scientific curiosity characteristic of the era, when botany was closely tied to medicine and agriculture, fields dominated by men from the upper classes. Skovgaard’s choice of the butterbur – a plant with recognized medicinal properties – might be read in the context of these interconnected fields. Rather than a majestic landscape, he zeroes in on the intimate details of plant life. There’s an emotionality to this close examination, an understated intimacy that invites us to consider our own relationship to the natural world.