The Genre of the Monstrous

"But if it so happens ... a work ... under pain of otherwise becoming shameful or false, requires fantasy ... [and that] certain limbs or elements of a figure are altered by borrowing from other species, for example transforming into a dolphin the hinder end of a griffon or a stag ... these alterations will be excellent and the substitution, however unreal it may seem, deserves to be declared a fine invention in the genre of the monstrous.

When a painter introduces into this kind of work of art chimerae and other imaginary beings in order to divert and entertain the senses and also to captivate the eyes of mortals who long to see unclassified and impossible things, he shows himself more respectful of reason than if he produced the usual figures of men or of animals."
~~Michelangelo~~ [source - Amazon - Amazon]

The British Museum Prints Database entry refers to this 1638 suite of prints as: "Set of twelve grotesque figures representing the twelve months of the year, printed probably from four plates in four strips of three figures each" that were "probably meant to be printed or pasted onto a folding map".

The series is by Denis Boutemie (or Denise or Daniel Boutemy aka Dionisio Bottonieri), a French jeweller, goldsmith and print engraver. Background details are sparse on the web, but his father was a goldsmith and it was through his contacts that Denis obtained work as a goldsmith in Rome for extended periods in the first few decades of the 17th century. He was active as an engraver (as he was best known in France) from 1619 until after 1658.

The prints have both the occasional obscure allegorical as well as obvious satirical dimension, by turns mocking dandies or presenting seasonal motifs; although the references tend to dissolve into grotesque absurdity - and happily so - in the spirit of Jacques Callot and François Desprez (see: one, two for eg.), among others.
[also see the previous Denis Boutemie entry: Fantastic Headdresses]

The main authority on Boutemie, sadly not online, appears to be a 1992 article in Print Quarterly (contents) by noted ornamental print scholar, Peter Fuhring^¶, called 'Denise Boutemie: A Seventeenth-Century Virtuoso' (pp. 46-55).

¶ Addit: Dr Fuhring advises that he contributed to another article with Michèle Bimbenet-Privat in which Boutemie is discussed: ‘Le style « cosses de pois ». L’orfèvrerie et la gravure à Paris sous Louis XIII’, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, January 2002, pp. 1-224.

The 1658 portrait of Boutemie below - source - by Nicolas Cochin precedes a poetic dedication for an unnamed collection of Boutemie's illustrations which formed part of a large series of albums of French print artists (I think).

Fantastic Headdresses

These outlandish grotesque masks or headdresses -- looking like operatic design drawings or maybe a stoned costumer 's submission for 'Eyes Wide Shut'* -- are from a suite of twenty engravings after Denis Boutemie from 1638.

The work is entitled: 'Ouvrage Rare et Nouveau Contenant Plusieurs Desseins de Marveilleuse Recreation sous Diverses Caprices et Gentilesses' (known as Fantastic Headdresses), sourced from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

All of the available images from the collection have been posted and some background artefact has been removed. A later reversed version of the final image above was seen here previously, so it was great to accidentally discover the original engravings. I had been searching around on Boutemie after finding another whimsical (but different) set of his prints, which I'll post in the next day or so is here: The Genre of the Monstrous.

Forest Fungi

These two works have no connection other than they hit the radar at about the same time. I think they're both solid or honest attempts, from either end of the 19th century, to present specimen illustrations with little in the way of stylistic embellishment. The book on fungi, in particular, seems to be be a fairly comprehensive review of the phylum, with just as many plates devoted to the often overlooked and less visually arresting smaller species - as well as attempts at depicting the obscure life cycles - as there are for the traditional mushroom and toadstool forms. (The plates chosen above don't really reflect this.)

'Das System der Pilze und Schwämme: ein Versuch' (~An attempt at a system of fungi and sponges) by CGD Nees von Esenbeck, 1817, is online at the University of Heidelberg. (hand-coloured engravings)

'Flore Forestière :Illustrée Arbres et Arbustes du Centre de l'Europe' (~Forest flora: illustrated trees and shrubs from central Europe) by C de Kirkwan, 1872, is online at the Missouri Botanical Gardens Botanicus website. (chromolithographs)

Illustrational Multitude

IN: 'Collectanea Chymica Leidensia' edited by Christopher Love Morley and Theodorus Muyckens, 1700. The head on that central figure could have launched a thousand 60s or 70s posters (kinda sorta reminds me of Brain Maps, in that regard). [Dresden]












The above three images are from 'Cabala, Speculum Artis Et Naturae In Alchymia' by Stephan Michelspacher (1654 edition; originally published in ~1615) [Dresden] {also: AGLA}

"This alchemical work, which was often reprinted, bears the stamp of Agrippa's view of the Kabbalah and magic. The explanation in the first table teaches that 'Kabbalah and alchemy offer the highest medicine, and also the Philosophers' Stone', but the allegedly alchemical-kabbalistic tables in this work are completely unrelated to the Jewish Kabbalah." [source]

IN: 'Azoth, Sive Aureliae Occultae Philosophorum'
by Basil Valentine, 1613. [Dresden]

IN: 'Cabalae Verior Descriptio' by Anon. 1680. [Dresden]

A New Map of Scotland for Ladies Needlework
Published by Laurie & Whittle in 1797

Related: DIY needlepoint maps and Emma's recent post on Crazy Embroidery.

The image above (and some below) comes from the relatively new Scotlandsimages.com site -- "a picture library taken from Scotland's national collections."

Northern Circumpolar Map

Southern Circumpolar Map

The above two star/zodiac/polar maps are from 'Atlas Designed to Illustrate the Geography of the Heavens' by Elijah Burritt, 1833. [source]

Harvard University Library recently launched the excellent and extensive web collection: 'Expeditions & Discoveries: Sponsored Exploration and Scientific Discovery in the Modern Age' [which] "delivers maps, photographs, and published materials, as well as field notes, letters, and a unique range of manuscript materials on selected expeditions between 1626 and 1953". [via]









The above two images come from an imaginative 1937 German children's book called 'Das Männlein Mittentzwei' by Paul Alverdes, with illustrations by Beatrice Braun-Fock. The images were scanned and uploaded by Patrick Wirbeleit for his great blog, Illuopa. [via Drawn!]

IN: 'Abbildung und Beschreibung einer Windmaschine aus einem
Brunnen die Wasser' by Johann Stephan Capieux, 1797. [Dresden]

Architectural drawing of new fountain for Holyrood Palace
by Robert Matheson, Office HM Works, Edinburgh, 1858
(House Plans Register) [Scotlandsimages]

Carbon print of an original engraving of a soldier of the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment), published by Mayer in 1743. [Scotlandsimages] {The Black Watch (W)}

Tempera drawings on parchment by someone in the circle
of Jacques-Antoine-Marie Lemoine - late 18th century.

Tempera drawings on black parchment by Margaretha-Barbara Dietzsch - late 18th century.

I spliced both of these sets of drawings together from the Bloomsbury Old Master paintings & drawings Auction site [in Rome tomorrow] (for more on black parchment - if the above really is black parchment and not just a translational morph - see here including comments)








Ortelius rightly highlights 'Horae Dive Virginis Marie' (Hours of the Virgin Mary) from the Polish Digital Library in his recent post. The woodcut borders in this 1505 work from Paris contain some fabulous beasties.

Frontispiece from the mining book,
'Probier Buch (Aula Subterranea)'
by Lazarus Ercker, 1673 [Dresden]

Choanites in Flint from the coast of Sussex

Eocene Shells of Bracklesham

The above two images are from 'The Geology and Fossils of the Tertiary and Cretaceous Formations of Sussex' by Frederick Dixon, 1850 [Dresden]








The above two images come from a German edition of one of Jacob Moeurs' travel books; in this case about the Dutch East India Company in Asia (and particularly China). I can't quite recall if I've seen these images before. The work from 1666 is called 'Die Gesandtschaft der Ost-Indischen Compagnen...Sinesischen Keiser'. The images are from a current Ebay auction and the seller has (at least at the moment) a gallery of images from the book online.

Framed engraving of 'Clarinda' (Mrs Agnes McLehose)

(late 18th/early 19th century, from a 1788 sitting
for the original cut-out silhouette: Scotlandsimages)

This image is slightly cropped and the background was cleaned up but I resisted the temptation to restore the faded areas of the silhouette. Clarinda was the pseudonym of a correspondent (and perhaps liaison) of the Scottish poet, Robert Burns (and; and; and).





Europe was introduced to the Australian koala (misspelled as Koalo) for the first time with this engraving from the 1810 book by George Perry, 'Arcana, or, The Museum of Natural History..'. The catalogue record at the National Library of Australia doesn't note that the name of one of the artists is 'Cruikshanks' (clearly visible at the bottom of the plate), presumably (??) a member of the famous family of print artists (esp. George). It is certainly not an accurate depiction of the animal so I suspect it was a 2nd or 3rd hand effort. (see also)

'Mapa del Cerro de Barrabás donde se fortificó Don Vicente
Guerrero después de retirarse de Zacatula, Mayo 1819'

"Map depicting the battle on the hill of Barrabás, near Zirándaro, now in the state of Guerrero. The map shows where Don Vicente Guerrero, Commander in Chief of the Revolutionary troops of the South set up his fortifications from which his troops defeated the royalist troops in the battle for Mexico’s Independence from Spain. The map is a schematic depiction of the buttresses built on a steep and mountainous landscape."

The image and quote come from the University of Arizona web exhibition site, 'Páginas de la Historia de México'.





I saved this cover image because I liked the lettering and decoration but it turns out that it is a very significant book in printing history. 'The Pencil of Nature', 1844-1846, by William Henry Fox Talbot, was the first photographically illustrated book to be published commercially. [image source] See the University of Glasgow Book of the Month entry.





Drawing by Gustave Doré from his 'Dessins Grotesques' series (~1850). The image comes from one of the new uploads to the indefatigable Coconino World.



I'm sorry that I didn't remember to collect all the direct Scotlandsimages and Dresden links, but title searches in google or at the respective site will reveal them.

More? The shared feeds are worth an occasional skim.