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Love-in-a-mist; Field cow-wheat

Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues

1568

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Early Baroque Italian Renaissance Renaissance Floral

Dominant colour

Love-in-a-mist; Field cow-wheat is a 1568 watercolor by Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, a Early Baroque Italian work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues
When & what style?: 1568 · Early Baroque Italian
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This watercolour shows two delicate wildflowers painted around 1575. It’s part of a set of 59 botanical studies kept in a single album. The flowers are on opposite sides of the same sheet—one side shows “Love-in-a-mist,” the other shows “Field cow-wheat.” These tiny works were once overlooked but now rank among early botanical art’s best. Look up the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more from this album.

The story of this work

Overview

The drawing consists of two botanical watercolours on paper attributed to Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, dated around 1575. On the recto, a Nigella (Love-in-a-mist) is depicted with light blue petaloid sepals, white highlights, and greyish-green stamens and carpels, set against a field background. The verso features a field cow-wheat with green lower bracts tipped red, reddish-purple upper bracts, and a green and red unopened corolla on a dark red-brown stem. The work is part of a 59-drawing album acquired by the V&A in 1856 due to its fine binding, later recognised as significant for early…

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

Artist

Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues

Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues (French pronunciation: ; c. 1533–1588) was a French artist and member of Jean Ribault's expedition to the New World. His depictions of Native American life and culture, colonial life, and…

See the richer artist page