Flower Arranging from History: 17th Century Vases - Beauty and Mechanics

Cover image: Illustration from G.B Ferrari's 'Flora our Cultura di Fiori', 1633. Image taken from Internet Archive 'Flora ouero Cultura di Fiori'

Illustration from G.B Ferrari's 'Flora our Cultura di Fiori', 1633. Image taken from Internet Archive 'Flora ouero Cultura di Fiori'

'The most beautiful flowers should crown the vase like a beautiful head of hair crowns a beautiful body.'

G.B Ferrari, 1633.

In 1633 a new book on floriculture was published in Rome. 

It was called 'Flora ouero Cultura di Fiori'  - translated as Flowers, or, on the Cultivation of Flower Gardens.

It was written by Giovanni Battista Ferrari. A Renaissance man, accomplished in both science and linguistics, Ferrari was Jesuit professor of Oriental Lanuages in Rome before becoming the designer and architect of the Barberini gardens in the same city.

Funded by Francesco Barbarini, the book includes detailed garden designs and ornate botanical illustrations complete with heraldic ribbons to inform readers of the plant's variety.  This beautifully illustrated book highlights the growing interest in flowers as a decorative piece, rather than cataloguing plants and recording their history or medicinal properties. This had been explored in the popular series of Herbals published by numerous authors in several European countries towards the end of the 16th Century.

Illustrations from G.B Ferrari's 'Flora our Cultura di Fiori', 1633. Image taken from Internet Archive 'Flora ouero Cultura di Fiori'

In the section devoted to flowers as decoration within the home, he describes one display as a portable garden, which can be taken into the house, and even put in one's bedroom.  Ferrari includes engraved prints of a variety of ceramic vessels with different tiers and holes for displaying blooms.

One example is an urn-shaped vase with a perforated lid. In this illustration the we see a variety of flowers including daffodils, tulips and carnations with their stems held in place by the lid.  This vessel is similar in function to the ceramic flowerbricks found in the 18th Century.

Illustration from G.B Ferrari's 'Flora our Cultura di Fiori', 1633. Image taken from Internet Archive 'Flora ouero Cultura di Fiori'

One crucial difference between the vase in Ferrari's arrangement and the flowerbrick is the shape of the perforated lid.  In flowerbricks the lid is flat, whereas the Baroque lid is curved.  It was described by Ferrari as being in the shape of a half sphere or dome, with alternating holes like a net.

Ferrari also offers the practical benefits of using this type of vase for an arrangement.  He advises that the lid can be lifted and hold the flowers in place whilst changing the water before it rots...every 2 or 3 days.  He also advises that lifting the lid allows for the flower stems to be trimmed to the feet. 

The advent of the printing press in around 1440 allowed for copies of this text to be produced and circulated.  To this day early editions of Ferrari's 'Flora ouero Cultura di Fiori' can be found.

In 2023, a presentation copy of the first edition was auctioned at Christie's and sold for $2,394. 

Subscribe to our upcoming newsletter to see more arrangements featured in 'Flora ouero Cultura di Fiori', and see how it can inspire your own floral art.

The original Italian text can be viewed in full on Internet Archive: 

Giovanni Battista Ferrari, 'Flora our Cultura di Fiori', 1633.  Internet Archive 'Flora ouero Cultura di Fiori'.

Berrall, Julia S. A History of Flower Arrangement, 1978.

Blacker, Mary Rose. Flora Domestica, A History of Flower Arranging 1500-1930, 2000.

Klarnet, Peter. 'Online Auction 22093, Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts Including Americana', 2023. Christie's Auction House. (https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/fine-printed-books-manuscripts-including-americana/de-florum-cultura-53/195379)