Bloemen 1751 - 1822

Noach van der Meer II made this image, titled ‘Bloemen’, with etching. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Dutch Republic was losing ground as a major economic and political power, and scientific societies were increasingly important. The detailed scientific accuracy of this print would have appealed to such circles. As an art historian, I'm interested in thinking about how institutions like scientific societies and natural history museums influence artistic production. How does the need to be 'scientific' affect what an artist includes or excludes? Looking at the image, we see a range of flower types and plant parts with their seeds from the Netherlands. The fine detail captures the beauty and complexity of the natural world. By looking at the archives of contemporary scientific societies and seed merchants, we can learn more about how this print may have been used in the burgeoning scientific culture of the time. Ultimately, the meaning of a work of art is always linked to its social and institutional context.