Honesty (Lunaria annua), Anselmus Boëtius de Boodt, 1596 - 1610
brush, h 245mm × w 175mm More details
The honesty plant is immediately recognizable by its distinctive flat, and sometimes translucent, seed pods. In this drawing, the plant also bears flowers, something that never occurs simultaneously in reality. De Boodt wanted to give a generic image of the plant in all of its flowering stages, rather than depict a specific specimen from nature. Thus, the drawing was useful in identifying the species.
