Skip to Content
Today Open today 10–11 members | 11–8 public

  • Mon 11–5
  • Tue–Wed Closed
  • Thu 11–8
  • Fri–Sun 11–5
  • The first hour of every day, 10–11 a.m., is reserved for member-only viewing.

The Superb Lily, from The Temple of Flora

A work made of color mezzotint, aquatint and etching, inked à la poupée, with watercolor (hand-coloring) on cream wove paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • A work made of color mezzotint, aquatint and etching, inked à la poupée, with watercolor (hand-coloring) on cream wove paper.

Date:

1799

Artist:

Richard Earlom (British, 1743-1822)
after Ramsay Richard Reinagle (British, 1775-1862)

About this artwork

The consummate mezzotint engraver Richard Earlom produced this large-scale mixed-media print of the Superb Lily (seen here in the second of four substantially different states) around 1799. The image was intended to be included in botanist Richard John Thornton’s grand publication of over life-sized prints of 70 species of flora, celebrating Carl Linnaeus’s 1735 classification system. By 1810, Thornton issued an apology to his neglected subscribers and printed extra impressions for an 1811 lottery. Despite his efforts to raise money—including the 1812 reduced-scale quarto edition of the publication—Thornton had difficulty ameliorating his financial situation. Nonetheless, the 33 plates completed at full scale remain absolute masterpieces.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Richard Earlom

Title

The Superb Lily, from The Temple of Flora

Place

England (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Artist's working dates 1763–1822

Medium

Color mezzotint, aquatint and etching, inked à la poupée, with watercolor (hand-coloring) on cream wove paper

Dimensions

Image: 44.7 × 36 cm (17 5/8 × 14 3/16 in.); Plate: 48 × 36 cm (18 15/16 × 14 3/16 in.); Sheet: 53.5 × 42.5 cm (21 1/8 × 16 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Walter S. Brewster

Reference Number

1936.101

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/22485/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.
Learn more

Image actions

Share

Suggested Terms