Petal and the brush: Gherardo Cibo’s ways of working with nature

Abstract

This dissertation explores aspects of the multifaceted relationship between nature and art/science during the early modern period. I explore this relationship through the lens of the work of Gherardo Cibo (1512-1600), an Italian polymath with a particular interest in plants. Cibo left an amazing oeuvre behind, including some of the most sophisticated botanical images of his time. Plants and landscapes were his favourite subjects. At the same time, he was a collector of natural things and was also known for making his own colours from plants’ juices. The methodology used throughout the thesis combines long-established practices of the discipline with more recent reconstruction methods, shedding new light on Cibo’s life and work. My main focus is how his knowledge of the natural world shaped his various practices (collecting, making and illustrating) and vice versa. Cibo’s activities highlight the complexity of early modern encounters with nature and illustrate the nexus of factors that played a role in producing and disseminating knowledge about the natural world. Through his example, I point towards some general trends in studying and visualising nature during the early modern period.