Painted herbariums

Painted herbariums are highly accurate drawings of plants or fungi, executed in watercolour, gouache or coloured pencil. They were invaluable for identifying plants before the advent of colour photography.

The oldest is that of Rosalie de Constant, which was painted between the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Marie Mousson's herbarium was created in the mid-19th century, while the others are contemporary.

Straddling the boundary between art and science, these collections are classified, catalogued and protected in special paper to ensure optimal colour preservation.