Botanical Revolutions

Desiredfor their aesthetic beauty, sought after for their medicinal properties,harvested for their scents and flavors, or grown as indispensable materialresources, plants are indissolubly entwined with our existence. In art it isno different: plants have played a critical role. Yet despite theirsignificant material and conceptual contributions, plants have been sidelinedin the commentary of art historians and critics. Botanical Revolutionspresents a global history of plants in art, focusing on the crucial momentsthat signaled the formation of new movements and styles, as well as thecreation of media that could not have occurred without the involvement of andinteraction with the vegetal world. In this fascinating and beautifullyillustrated book, author Giovanni Aloi delves deeply into the history andrepresentation of plants in art, advocates for a change in our relationshipwith the botanical world, and presents an alternative history of art thatforegrounds the truly indispensable contributions of plants.