Tulips - Robert John Thornton - Framed art Print

In the late 18th century, Robert Thornton, initially set on a religious career, found himself engrossed in Thomas Martyn's botanical lectures at Trinity College, Cambridge. This sparked a shift towards medicine, eventually leading him to lecture in medical botany at Guy's Hospital. Thornton envisioned an ambitious project involving a dissertation on the sexual reproductive cycle of plants, a detailed examination of Linnaeus's plant system, and "The Temple of Flora", featuring seventy plates of exotic plant species according to Linnaeus's classification, all set in their native habitats.

"The Temple of Flora" required a plethora of artistic methods including aquatint, mezzotint, stipple engraving, and line engraving or etching, involving numerous artists such as Philip Reinagle, Abraham Pether, Sydenham Edwards, Peter Henderson, Richard Earlom, James Caldwall, and Thomas Burke. Thornton himself only created the Rose plate, executed by Earlom.

Despite the number of artists, Thornton managed to maintain stylistic consistency. However, the sporadic production process led to irregular publication and financial struggles. Some plates were revised or removed, making a definitive collation impossible. Nevertheless, Thornton's profound impact on English botanical illustration is often likened to that of Redouté.