Fine hand-colored engraving of an exotic citrus tree (Aranzo Hermaphrodito Coronato) from the "Hesperidum Norimbergensium", published by Johannes Volckamer between 1708-14, presented in a tasteful vintage gilt wood frame.

In the late seventeenth century there developed among the aristocracy of central Europe a passion for cultivating the rarest kinds of citrus fruits, often imported at great expense from areas south of the Alps. At the forefront of this cult was Johannes Volckamer (1644-1720), a German merchant and botanist, who utilized the riches provided by his family's silk factory to create a garden in Nuremberg devoted to these fruits. Volckamer became something of an expert in their cultivation and between 1708 and 1714 produced his seminal work, "Nurnbergische Hesperides", which, besides being a growers' manual, also included over two hundred engraved illustrations of the most wondrous varieties nurtured by he and his fellow enthusiasts. These engravings are gems of botanical art. Each one introduces a variety of fruit with a ribbon bearing its name; the fruit itself seems to hover in mid-air, while below it is shown a charming vignette depicting the palace or garden, in Germany or Italy, where the particular variety was cultivated.

Few copies of the "Nurnbergische Hesperides" were published and it remains one of the rarest of eighteenth century botanical works.

Image size: 8 1/4 x 12 3/4 inches.

Framed size: 17 3/4 x 22 1/4 inches.

Johann Christoph Volkamer  was a Nuremberg merchant whose grandfather, Johann Volkamer, made a fortune in Italian silks. His father, Johann Georg Volkamer, was a natural historian, astronomer, physicist, botanist and president of the Imperial Academy of Natural History who called himself ‘Helianthus’ or ‘Sunflower’. Johann Christoph took over his grandfather’s silk factory at Rovereto in northern Italy, and his garden at Gostenhof, just outside Nuremberg. 

Gardening became his passion that would define his life. He had a zest for citrus of all sorts, the ‘finest adornment to any garden’ when the genus was largely unknown in northern Europe. He began compiling his Nürnbergische Hesperides in 1685, publishing the first volume in 1708 and the second in 1714. It was printed by Johann Andreas Endter. 

Volkamer’s volumes were a labor of love. He oversaw the printing of 750 pages and more than 250 partially colored copperplates illustrating 170 distinct varieties of citrus. The plates are an extraordinary, almost surrealist experiment in cut-up and collaged scenes. Each citrus is drawn true to life size. Fruits lower like vast lemon zeppelins over idealized Italianate palazzi and gardens. Volkamer’s vedute (views) may be more fancy than fact, but he was strict about his citrus. Brief botanical commentaries describe the size, shape, color and scent of each citrus tree; its characteristic leaves, blossoms and fruits; when the fruits ripen; their origins and how the variety is to be cultivated. Volkamer is keen on propagation, whether from seed, seedlings, leaves or thorn. 

Volkamer was proud of having ‘industriously drawn’ all his fruits ‘from nature’, in the flesh and in the pith. The exception was the grapefruit. He had earmarked a specimen in the Bose gardens in Leipzig, but in 1706 the tree bore only one fruit so Volkamer sent orders to have it sketched on the spot. It was the age of the great glass orangery and citrus fruits were successfully grown in German gardens, though fewer varieties thrived than in the south. Connoisseurs bought their citrus from Italy or at the Frankfurt and Leipzig fairs. 

Lovely landscape settings sit below the citrus fruits, which seem to hover above in the skies. The settings include formal gardens and classical villas, perhaps in order to illustrate the places in which the fruits were cultivated, or simply to add a decorative element to the representations. Volckamer’s distinctive images, therefore, were not only of scientific interest, but of considerable aesthetic appeal.