Tulips
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Tulips” now? Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not on view at present. Checked September 25, 2026.
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
The 'Nassau Florilegium' was a manuscript florilegium compiled between ca 1650 and 1670 by Johann Jakob Walther. A florilegium is a decorative flower book, often associated with a particular garden, as in this example recording the plants in the garden at Idstein (near Frankfurt) created by the Count of Nassau. These books first appeared in the 17th century, when it became fashionable among the wealthy to collect and cultivate flowering plants, especially the exotic, rare and beautiful. Usually arranging plants by season, florilegia were catalogues of these living but ephemeral collections. They were also important sources of inspiration for floral motifs in the decorative arts. The 'Nassau Florilegium' was not published but exists as two volumes of watercolours (133 flower and fruit studies plus views of the gardens) in eighteenth-century bindings.
Read on
There is a second version in the Bibliothèque National in Paris which has very similar but not identical plates dated 1652-65; a third copy consisting of 200 plates, formerly in Darmstadt Landesbibliothek, was destroyed during the Second World War.
This image of tulips demonstrates Walther's skill in decorative composition. Though the tulips are evidently 'arranged' to present a formal bouquet-style grouping, the natural habit of the plant is approximated.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 9174:31
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
