Image of Chili Peppers
Title
Image of Chili Peppers
Subject
Woodcut illustration of chili peppers (Capsicum annuum) including stems, leaves, and roots
Description
This image is one of over five hundred woodcut illustrations that were part of a book written by Leonhart Fuchs, De Historia Stirpium commentarii insignes, which was originally published in 1542. Albrecht Meyer drew the plants based on observation, Heinrich Fullmaurer transferred these drawings to woodblocks, and Vitus Rudolph Speckle cut these blocks and printed the woodcut illustrations. The colors were later added by hand using watercolors. Several plants were illustrated for the first time in Fuchs' book, including the chili pepper. Fuchs made sure that the illustrations were true to life and that they depicted the plants in all stages of life. This demonstrates the purpose of the images in this book, which was to be a practical guide for those studying the sciences, particularly medicine.
Creator
Albrecht Meyer, Heinrich Fullmaurer, and Vitus Rudolph Speckle (with input from Leonhart Fuchs)
Source
De Historia Stirpium commentarii insignes (Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants) by Leonhart Fuchs
The source of this image was Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albrecht_Meyer25.jpg. The source of the WikiCommons image was the Andersen Horticultural Library.
This book can also be found on Hathi Trust, as well as at https://archive.org/details/Dehistoriastirp00Fuch, with the Biodiversity Heritage Library as the digitizing sponsor and Smithsonian Libraries as the book contributor.
The source of this image was Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albrecht_Meyer25.jpg. The source of the WikiCommons image was the Andersen Horticultural Library.
This book can also be found on Hathi Trust, as well as at https://archive.org/details/Dehistoriastirp00Fuch, with the Biodiversity Heritage Library as the digitizing sponsor and Smithsonian Libraries as the book contributor.
Publisher
Basileae: In officina Insingriniana (Basel, Michael Insingrin)
Date
Originally published in 1542
Contributor
Jennifer Rutishauser
Rights
No longer under copyright protection, Public Domain
Relation
Latin text in Leonhart Fuchs' De Historia Stirpium commentarii insignes
Format
The original image was a woodcut illustration within a book, dimensions: 34.5 x 23 cm. It is published here as a digital image with dimensions 500 x 808 pixels.
Language
Latin
Type
Woodcut illustration with watercolors
Identifier
The first depiction of chili peppers for an educated European audience
Coverage
16th century Europe
Original Format
Woodcut illustration on paper with watercolors
Physical Dimensions
34.5 x 23 cm.
Files
Citation
Albrecht Meyer, Heinrich Fullmaurer, and Vitus Rudolph Speckle (with input from Leonhart Fuchs), “Image of Chili Peppers,” Food origins, accessed December 4, 2023, https://tenochtitlan.omeka.net/items/show/31.