Anna Maria Vaiani

These beautiful engravings were done by Anna Maria Vaiani (ca 1604-1655), one of only a few known women artists represented in the Hagströmer Library collections. She was an Italian printmaker, flower painter, and miniaturist from Florence. The images are from the first printed treatise on floriculture, Flora overo cultura di fiori written by Giovanni Battista Ferrari (1584–1655) and printed in Rome 1638. It is a rare and interesting book, with illustrations depicting some of the rare and exotic flowers in the luxurious Barberini gardens on the Quirinale in Rome.

Text and photo: Anna Lantz