Plantain

Plantain card, decorated with a dried specimen from a manuscript by Johannes Harder (1563-1606). The back of the card features a stanza from the Nine Plants Spell, that refers to plantago:

“And you, waybread,
plant-mother!
You're open to the east,
yet mighty within:
Carts creaked over you,
women rode over you,
over you brides bellowed,
over you bulls snorted!"

Translated by J. S. Hopkins. From the book “Nine Plants Spell" by J. S. Hopkins.

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Notes About the Artwork

Source Print

Plantago

Artist: Johannes Harder

From: Historia stirpium, collecta, per doctore Ioanne Harderum medicu[m] Geislingensem.

History

Manuscript comprised of: 197 leaves containing 588 dried plant specimens, most with watercolor additions showing bulbs, roots, fruits, vegetables, grassy mounds, and other details; ten blank leaves with 15 specimens loosely inserted.

Dr. Johannes Harder was the son of the pharmacist Hieronymus Harder, who is known as the first German professional compiler of herbaria.