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Daphne mezereum with butterfly

George Dionysus Ehret

1750

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Rococo painting 18th Century Floral

Dominant colour

Daphne mezereum with butterfly is a 1750 watercolor by George Dionysus Ehret, a Rococo painting work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: George Dionysus Ehret
When & what style?: 1750 · Rococo painting
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This painting is called Daphne mezereum with butterfly. It's a watercolour from the mid 18th century. The artist likely made it for decoration, not just science, because of how the stems are grouped and the butterfly added. The way the stems are arranged and the inclusion of a butterfly are notable. This suggests the artist wanted to make it visually pleasing. You can learn more about this style by looking at the work of Ehret, George Dionysus.

The story of this work

Overview

This watercolour and gouache on vellum by George Dionysus Ehret depicts Daphne mezereum alongside a butterfly, arranged with grouped stems to emphasize decorative effect rather than strict botanical precision. Ehret, a leading 18th-century botanical illustrator, often contributed to major publications and supported Linnaeus’s binomial classification system. The inclusion of the insect and the composition’s aesthetic grouping suggest the work was designed more as an ornamental piece than a purely scientific record.

Read the full account in the museum source.