Orchids & Orangeries: Aspects of private gardens in the late 17th-century Dutch Republic

The design of the gardens was carefully planned and elaborate patterns were devised as in this plate with examples of three parterres: one in the English style, one a flower garden, and one for an orangery including typical elements such as statues, a fountain and citrus trees on display.

This outstanding study of citrus fruits in all their varieties was compiled by Italian Jesuit Giovanni Battista Ferrari, a friend of Galileo. Their origin, methods of cultivation, and medicinal uses are described and many of the engravings are by the Dutch printmaker Cornelis Bloemaert.

Methods of pruning were described in detail in many contemporary works on citriculture and Ferrari deems these two pruning knives to warrant a place to the fore in this print, which also shows an example of the ornate containers used for growing and display.

The orangery of a grand estate like Sorglviet was often built to function as a place to entertain guests with parties, banquets and balls.

The interior design of the aesthetic and entertainment aspects of the great orangeries could receive as much care as the facilities for the plants.

The orangery of Pieter de Wolff, an Amsterdam businessman married to a rich silk merchant, Clementia van der Vecht. The silk business of his own family and that of his wife may have funded this large orangery and garden with statuary and fountains.

Jan (Johannes) Commelin was a commissioner at the Hortus Medicus of Amsterdam, now the Hortus Botanicus, which had one of the richest collection of exotic plants in Europe. He and his nephew Caspar were key figures in the world of botany in The Netherlands and beyond. He also maintained his own garden and is seen here supervising the gardeners bringing trees into the orangery for over-wintering.

The orangery of the Hortus Botanicus Leiden, founded in 1590. Today its most important research collection is the Orchid Collection.

Gunterstein's famous Dragon Fountain. As in the mythical Garden of the Hesperides, the precious fruits are guarded by a dragon.

Water management in Holland was vital then as now, evinced by this elaborately illustrated depiction of sluice-gates in Kennemerland. Weather, storms and floods were of great concern to this low-lying land. While tropical plants were being grown in hothouses, Holland was experiencing severe winters along with much of Northern Europe.

The audio is a clip from the track Emergo, from "Struggle & Emerge" by Irish band Lakker. This is a composition commissioned by the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision to examine the relationship between the Dutch and water.

Supreme botanical illustrator and entomologist Maria Merian chose the pineapple for the first two illustrations in her classic work on the metamorphosis of insects in the Dutch colony of Surinam in South America. She spent two years there studying and drawing the insects and flora for one of the most beautiful books on natural history ever published.

The orangery could not provide the conditions needed for growing tropical flowers and fruits. The Dutch led the development of the hothouse, pioneered at the botanic garden of the Hortus Medicus Amsterdam in 1682. Hot stoves, under-floor heating, light and ventilation were key elements which enabled the pineapple and other exotic plants to be grown in Europe.

Silk merchant Johann Volckamer maintained a city garden, Gostenhof, in Nuremberg where he grew citrus and exotic fruits. For this work he commissioned illustrations based on some of his own produce. He also described an old wooden style of orangery, with the roof insulated with straw and loam.

The first European depiction of a tropical orchid appeared as a woodcut and vignette theme in a work on plants with medicinal properties in the Spanish Empire in the New World. Cultivated by the Aztecs of central Mexico, it is described by Francisco Hernández, the physician of Philip II, under its Indian name Coatzonte coxochitl. (Now called Stanhopea hernandezii)

Georg E. Rumphf (Rumphius) was one of the great tropical naturalists of the seventeenth century. Born in Germany, he spent most of his life working for the Dutch East India Company, stationed on the island of Ambon in eastern Indonesia. His Ambonese herbal describing the native plants of that island and its archipelago is a masterpiece of tropical botanical literature.

Rumphius named this white orchid Flos Susannae after his wife, a native of the island: “in memory of her who during her life was my first mate and helpmeet when searching for herbs and plants, and who showed me this flower also.” (Now called Pecteilis susannae or Habaneria susannae.)

Hieronymus van Beverningk was another statesman and cultivator of exotic plants whose plant collection and library was an important source for writers of botanical works. The garden at his country house Oud-Teylingen, close to Leiden, features as background in this portrait, and diarist Contanstijn Hugens mentions meeting him on several occasions in the company of Fagel.

Polish merchant and botanist Jakob Breyne visited private gardens in the Netherlands to gather information for his works on exotic and rare plants around the world. He describes his visits and gives lists of plants from the gardens of Fagel and Van Beverningk, among others.

Breyne gives praise and prominence to Van Beverningk's wonderful garden where he observed some of these rare terrestrial orchids, including this one "of beautiful appearance".

A rare bee orchid, introduced into the Netherlands from Portugal. A reference to Van Beverningk's garden - [BE]VERNINGIANO in HORTO can be partially read where the text shows through the plate (referring to Orchis cercopithecum).

Breyne writes of the visual pleasure to be found in observing all the varieties of orchids such as this lovely cerulean blue specimen.

The vanilla orchid was brought to Europe from Mexico but could only be pollinated by a bee unique to its native habitat. A method of hand-pollination was not discovered until the 19th century.

Jansson's decorative map of the fabled Spice Islands in Indonesia ( Maluku Islands or the Moluccas). On the sea are European and local ships, two of which are engaged in battle. The Spice Wars saw European rivals in conflict to control the lucrative spice trade. The negative side of European expansion included slavery and destruction of indigenous people and cultures.

The cultivation, preparation and properties of tea in Japan are covered here in an eleven-page appendix. This was written by a Dutch surgeon and botanist with the Dutch East India Company, Willem ten Rhyne. Tea was introduced to the Netherlands early in the 17th century from China and later came from Dutch plantations in Java and Sumatra. Tea bushes were observed in the gardens of Agnes Block and Gaspar Fagel.

A frangipane from Merian's book on Surinamese insects showing different stages in the metamorphosis of the Red Cracker Butterfly.

Pelargonium from Van der Stel's report to the VOC of his expedition to the Copper Mountains of Namaqualand in 1685. The manuscript is illustrated with images of the flora and fauna he encountered on his journey, most likely drawn by Hendrick Claudius. Described as "a kind of geranium with a sweet and edible root and therefore much favoured by the inhabitants... Found on the 24th September [1685]".

A drawing of the ferocious looking Monsonia spinosa from Burman's work on African plants.

A wondrous plant from South Africa enthralls Kings Solomon and Cyrus the Great, along with Greek and Roman botanists Dioscorides and Pliny. Recording his observations is Theophrastus, the Greek writer known as the Father of Botany. The plant has been identified as Conicosia pugioniformis, a common plant around Cape Town.

A letter from Catharina Juliana Seep accompanying a basket of bulbs and a box of seeds sent to Fagel from Cartagena in Colombia in 1688.

Gaspar Fagel had many botanical works in his library which was auctioned in The Hague and London. Books such as this exquisite hand-coloured publication by Munting were luxury items and works of art for purchase by wealthy collectors such as the Fagel family, and were also reference works of immense scientific value. The Fagel family continued to collect books on botany and horticulture as evidenced by the very many rich volumes in the collection at Trinity College Library.