Blomster 1816

Oluf Bagge created this botanical study, Blomster, in the early 19th century using a gray wash technique. The careful rendering of lilies and other specimens reminds us that, in the decades around 1800, the arts and sciences were closely entwined. Bagge was trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, and his drawing may well have been undertaken as part of that institutional process. It reflects the growing importance of scientific illustration for botany and natural history. Consider how the production of such images served the needs of expanding European empires, as they sought to document and exploit the natural resources of colonized lands. Research into the archives of the Academy and the social networks of its members can tell us much about the place of this image within the culture of 19th-century Denmark.