Christian Feest. Botanical paintings The six documented works by the artist in private hands are exquisite gouaches which embody and combine in a most original manner three diverse artistic traditions: the first is that of manuscript illumination in Le Moyne's native France; the second is the recording of exotic and native flora, fauna and cultures, which was the artistic expression of the late sixteenth-century fascination with exploration and scientific investigation; and the third is the purely aesthetic love of flowers and gardens which was so apparent in Elizabethan court culture. Le Moyne's work represents a transition from the medieval focus on the religious symbolism of plants in art to a Renaissance emphasis on scientific inquiry and beauty when creating botanical illustration. The most extravagant and exquisitely wrought of all Le Moyne's floral works are the six miniature-like gouaches from the Korner collection. Purchased as the work of an anonymous Netherlandish artist of circa 1600, their authorship was recognized by art historians Dr. Rosy Schilling and Mr. Paul Hutton, by comparison with the drawings by Le Moyne in the British Museum. These are generally similar in conception to the watercolors in the British Museum, and must also date from around 1585. A number of his works are held in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Notes References Heller, Henry. (2002) Labour, Science and Technology in France, 1500-1620, Cambridge University Press. p. 79. . Jacques LeMoyne Exploring Florida: Jacques Le Moyne: Images of the engravings Milanich, Jerald, "The Devil in the Details", Archaeology, May/June 2005, pp. 27–31. Hulton, Paul, (1977) The Work of Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues: A Huguenot Artist in France and Florida, 2 vol., British Museum Publications. Harvey, Miles. (2008) Painter in a Savage Land: The Strange Saga of the First European Artist in North America, Random House. . External links Gallica, la bibliothèque numérique (Bibliothèque nationale de France): Théodore de Bry, Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues and the Timucua Indians Artfact Robert Viking O'Brien's article on LeMoyne's Brevis narratio from The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal of Florida Literature "Le Moyne's Florida Indians" The written accounts and artwork of Le Moyne at Fort Caroline in 1564 1530s births 1588 deaths French artists Botanical illustrators Natural history illustrators Scientific illustrators French cartographers French North America History of Jacksonville, Florida Huguenots People of pre-statehood Florida 16th-century cartographers 16th-century French people