Flora Exotica : A Botanical Masterpiece from 1720

In 1720, Imperial Count Johann Georg Dernath commissioned Johann Gottfried Simula to paint the ornamental and exotic rare plants from the manor-house garden and orangery in East Holstein.

In 1854, Simula's "Flora Exotica" were transferred to the collection of the National History Museum's botany library in London, making this botanical work largely unknown to German gardening history.

The watercolours selected in "Flora Exotica" present a reflection of gardening fashion adopted by the ruling classes in the baroque period.