Anemones and a Large Blue Butterfly (Phengaris arion). by DIETZSCH, Johann Cristoph (1710-1769), Barbara Regina DIETZSCH (1706-1783) or Margareta Barbara DIETZSCH (1726-1795)

Nuremberg: ca 2nd and 3rd quarters, 18th-century. Single sheet vellum (11 x 7 4/8 inches). A fine original watercolour and body colour drawing of a large anemone hybrid stem with two flowers and a beautiful large Blue butterfly on a prepared brown/black ground (unsigned), but probably by a member of the Dietzch family of Nuremberg. Provenance: Inscribed in pencil on the verso "Bought in Nuremberg in 1869" At this period Nuremberg was, apart from London, the largest centre of botanical art in Europe, thanks largely to the scholarly patronage of Dr. Christoph Jakob Trew (1695-1769), one of the earliest supporters of Georg Dionysius Ehret. Johann Israel Dietzsch (1681-1754) had seven children who became artists. Barbara, Margareta and Johann were all employed at the Nuremburg Court, specializing in botanical subjects. It is difficult to identify definitely, on stylistic grounds, which of the family was responsible for the present watercolour, executed on a dark prepared ground characteristic of Nuremberg School The Dietzsches were an important family of painters, engravers, and musicians that flourished in Nuremberg during the eighteenth century. The patronage of Dr. Christoph Trew, the great botanist and bibliographer, made Nuremberg one of the foremost centersof botanical art in the world, and the Dietzsch family was one of the most noted of the era. Even at the time of its production, the work of Barbara Regina Dietzsch was much sought after by collectors in both the Netherlands and in England. It is recorded that some of the best known painters of the time accepted her works as a form of payment, signaling the great reputation she attained during her lifetime -- a celebration that has continued to grow in the intervening centuries. Dietzsch was particularly known for her marvelous renderings of flowers and fruit in watercolor and gouache. Employed at the court of Nuremberg, she drew extensively for engravers there, and her work was of such outstanding quality that it was used by Trew and Georg Ehret for a number of plates in the Hortus Nitidissimis (1750-86). Like most of her family's work, Dietzsch's watercolors are often characterized by the use of a black or dark brown ground and it is partly upon the basis of this that the current attribution has been based. This creates a dramatic contrast between subject and background and emphasizes the sharp, hard finish of the drawing. The great flower painter Georg Ehret occasionally placed his bouquets on a dark background, but these are not nearly so successful as Dietzsch's in making the subject come to life. Various examples of her work can be found in the Broughton Collection at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England and in each the dark ground is present.What separates the work of Barbara Regina from that of her other family members is the remarkable clarity of depiction and skill in rendering. With unbelievable mastery and stylistic power, Dietzsch overcame contemporary estimations of women's inferiority in the field of art, creatingwatercolors of distinctive splendor. .