Painted Herbarium by Rosalie de Constant

Harvesting plants, drying them, then classifying and studying them during winter evenings was customary in high society in French-speaking Switzerland at the end of the 18th century. Rosalie de Constant studied botany and collected flowers, but was very disappointed when she saw them lose their colour. She therefore decided to paint them, so that they would retain their freshness. Painting flowers was one of the elegant pastimes that every well-educated young lady was expected to master. But Rosalie de Constant approached this task with exceptional fervour and diligence: in 37 years (from 1795 to 1832), she produced no fewer than 1,245 watercolours, with as much taste as scientific rigour!

Each drawing is accompanied by two texts. The first places the plant in a precise classification system, first that of Linnaeus, then those of Jussieu and Candolle. The second text is a description of the plant with information on its use, the environment in which it grows and its flowering period.

At the end of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th, Rosalie de Constant's collection was bound in twelve thick volumes, with the pages folded in half. It was restored between 1988 and 1992.