An Exhibition of Botanical Art at the Museum de Zwarte Tulp

Lisse, the Netherlands

Before the pilgrims set sail for America via England, they spent twelve years in the Netherlands, especially in Leiden. On the Mayflower, William Brewster brought an extensive botanical reference, the Cruijdeboeck by Rembertus Dodonaeus (1554). To plan this exhibition, organizers from Botanical Artists Netherlands and Hortus botanicus Leiden chose a selection of plants from the book that were used as food or medicine at that time. These plants demonstrated the exchange of plants between the pilgrims and indigenous Americans. For my plant, I chose Nuphar lutea, a waterlily whose taxonomy has undergone several revisions since that time. It grows in wetlands and lakes where I live and I used a kayak to make studies of it. The artists in the exhibition were all very happy that the exhibition has been able to hang in the Museum and is open to the public during these uncertain times!

Photos of exhibition courtesy Anita Walsmit Sachs and Martine Oosterom.