Germany, unpublished, ca. 1770. Single leaf (27.2 x 18.6 cm). Opaque watercolour and gouache on vellum.

A stunning original work of art by the German artist Barbara Regina Dietzsch (1706-1783) is renowned for her natural history illustrations, which are of an extraordinary quality, pairing accuracy with Schwung. Flowers, insects, and birds were her favourite subjects. Typically, they are rendered on a black background. "Like many of her female contemporaries, Dietzsch remains relatively overlooked in the mainstream narrative of European art, despite the recognition she enjoyed in her own lifetime as a flower painter and the presence of her works in museums throughout the United States and Europe. Significant caches of Dietzsch’s depictions of both flowers and fauna can be found primarily in German museum collections-such as the Staatliche Museum zu Berlin, Germanisches National Museum in Nuremberg, Städel Museum in Frankfurt, and the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München - but stand-out examples are also found within the collections of the British Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, the Rijksmuseum, and a handful of American institutions" (Banta). The present work shows a flowering chrysanthemum, as well as a red longhorn beetle, and a European butterfly, the common brimstone. Several family members, including her sister, Margaretha Barbara (1716-1795), and brother, Johann Christoph (1710-1769), painted in much the same style, and typically, the works are not signed. However, this flower, beetle, and butterfly are known from other works by Barbara Dietzsch, who painted them accurately, in great detail. For this reason, we believe this to be her work. Moreover, the French physician, botanist and publisher, Pierre Joseph Buc'hoz, or Buchoz (1731-1807) copied this very work for his Collection précieuse et enluminée des fleurs plus belles et les plus curieuses qui se cultivent tant dans les jardins de la Chine, que dans ceux d'Europe, part II. Plantes les plus belles qui se cultivent dans les jardins de l'Europe, plate 65, " L'anemone des jardins à fleurs doubles et violettes". In Buc'hoz's work, the illustration is in mirror image, with a new background, as one would expect, but otherwise identical. Light wear to the lower margin, glue remnants on verso, otherwise in an excellent state, with bright and vivid colours. Banta, A. B. (2021) Barbara Regina Dietzsch: Enlightened Flower Painter. Art Herstory website.