The Royal Academy of Sciences, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV, on the advice of Prime Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, initiated scholarly works that the "ordinary engravers of the King" were to illustrate. Claude Perrault (physician and architect, brother of the storyteller) entrusted Denis Dodart (1634-1717) ...
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The Royal Academy of Sciences, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV, on the advice of Prime Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, initiated scholarly works that the "ordinary engravers of the King" were to illustrate. Claude Perrault (physician and architect, brother of the storyteller) entrusted Denis Dodart (1634-1717) and his collaborators with the project of a History of Plants, which was to assemble scientific descriptions and faithful illustrations of the plants studied.
Nicolas Robert, Abraham Bosse and Louis de Chastillon engraved 319 plates between 1668 and 1699. The technique used was etching, with the main concern being to render the gradation of colors through engraving: "We prefer etching to all the others, because it has more freedom and is quicker and easier".
In 1676, a first edition of the Memoirs to serve the History of Plants was published with 38 of these plates, engraved by Nicolas Robert and Abraham Bosse between 1668 and 1676. In 1676, Abraham Bosse died and Louis de Châtillon succeeded him in the collaboration to the work. But the project remained unfinished and in 1694 the Academy gave up a complete publication. However, at the beginning of the 18th century, the Royal Printing Office produced a few complete prints of the 319 plates, intended for the presents that the king gave.
These 319 copper plates are today kept at the Chalcographie du Louvre, which inherited the engraved plates from the royal collections.
The History of Plants was intended to offer a faithful illustration for each of the plants studied. Each plant was the subject of a life-size reproduction, either in its entirety or in detail (root, leaf or flower...). In order to offer the most accurate representation, the academicians monitored the work of the artists, comparing drawings, engravings, descriptions and the plants themselves.
The Ultimes are prints made from the original etching plates in the Chalcographie collection at the Musée du Louvre before they were put into storage for preservation reasons.
For reasons of preservation, it was decided to stop printing plates engraved before 1848. Before they left the Ateliers to go into the Louvre's reserves, some were printed one last time. These are the last ones. Each print is dated, numbered and stamped, and is sold with a certificate of authenticity, in a limited edition of 10.
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