Tulipa Gesneriana Fine Art Botanical Print by Holtzbecher

An archival premium Quality Botanical Print of the Tulipa Gesneriana by the German artist Johannes Simon Holtzbecher for sale by Brandywine General Store. The exact date of the antique canvas isn't known, but it was painted by the artist sometime between the period of 1649 to 1659. This original gouache on Parchment measures 15 by 20 inches in size and is now at the National Gallery of Denmark. We have several different botanical paintings in the same size, era, medium and technique by this same artist, they make a nice grouping put together on a wall. You can type the artist's name in the search box and they will all come up. This picture shows five of these flowers, all of which are red and white in color, two of the tulips have short stalks while the other three have longer stalks. These flowers are also known as the Garden Tulip or Didier's Tulip and belong to the Lilaceae genus. The origin of this particular tulip is now unknown, but it arrived in Europe from the Ottoman Empire, perhaps originating in the Turkey. Upon the tulip's arrival in Europe, its popularity quickly soared and became a status symbol for the wealthy merchants of the Dutch Golden Age. After a few years of growing these tulips in Europe, a mosaic virus began infecting the bulbs, which produced rare and spectacular effects on the blooms, but weakened and destroyed the already scarce bulbs, leading to the speculative frenzy now known as Tulip Mania that occurred between 1634 to 1637. During this period tulip bulbs brought up to as much as what 6,000 bushes of wheat could be bought, which was a considerable sum of money. When the tulip bubble crashed, may people lost their fortunes. Most of the tulips that are cultivated today originated from these Garden Tulips. Botanical art print #111