Have you ever imagined that citrus fruits could be celestial bodies, heroically and angelically suspended in the firmament? Perhaps not, but J. C. Volkamer did, and he commissioned an extravagant and astonishing series of large-scale prints centred on limes, lemons and bitter oranges; in these surreal scenes, the fruits appear suspended in ether, majestic, life-size, floating like planets against a background of villas, gardens or distant landscapes.

Before their importation from Italy began, citrus trees were almost unknown north of the Alps; over the next two centuries, exotic and fragrant specimens of these plants gained in popularity in gardens throughout the area. One horticultural enthusiast in particular, the merchant J. C. Volkamer of Nuremberg, devoted himself wholeheartedly to the citrus cause, having plants brought from Italy, Germany, North Africa and even the Cape of Good Hope so that his garden would be stocked with as wide a variety of specimens as possible. His obsession was such that he commissioned a team of artists and engravers to create 251 plates of 170 different citrus varieties to illustrate the two volumes of his treatise on citrus fruits. The first of these was published in 1708, with a title as extensive as it is curious: The Hesperides of Nuremberg, or a minute description of the noble fruits which are the lemon, the lime and the bitter orange; how they can be planted, cultivated, cared for and tended in this and neighbouring regions.

Very few coloured copies of Volkamer's work survive today; TASCHEN bases its edition on the two hand-coloured volumes recently discovered in the municipal archives of the city of Fürth (Germany) in Burgfarrnbach Castle. The reprint also includes 56 additional newly discovered illustrations, which the author planned to publish in a third volume.

Publisher: Taschen