Nature into Art introduces today’s audiences to Ruysch’s achievements while also exploring the pioneering role of women artists and scientists in the Dutch Republic in the 17th and 18th centuries. Brilliantly illustrated with detailed reproductions of Ruysch’s intricate paintings, the essays touch upon Ruysch’s career and her immediate legacy while also widening their scope to consider the role of botany in the early modern era and the storied tradition of botanical illustration. The catalog also includes an index of the various flora and fauna depicted within Ruysch’s work, which feature both native and nonnative species.

• Publisher: MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• ISBN: 9780878468997
• Format: Clth, 10 x 11.5 in. / 224 pgs / 130 color.
• Publish Date: 12/24/2024

Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750) produced hundreds of the floral still lifes for which she is best known. She was an apprentice in the studio of Willem van Aelst and the daughter of famed scientist Frederick Ruysch, meaning she had access to a wider world of Dutch flower painters and botanists. From 1708 until 1716 she served as court painter to Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine.