Cupid Inspiring the Plants with Love
after Robert John Thornton, 1799–1807
$150
Print check at 12 x 18 in: 179 dpi, good. Trimmed 0.4% to the shape of the print.
Shipping to a US address: $25.90 for this piece, from the print room in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Thornton opened his book with an allegory rather than a flower: Cupid in a tropical landscape, firing at the plants. The point was not decoration. Linnaeus had classified the vegetable kingdom by its sexual organs and written about "husbands" and "brides" in the same bed, and the English establishment was appalled; Thornton's response was to lean all the way in and present the system as a love story with pictures. It worked artistically and failed commercially, like everything else he attempted. He answered a scandal by making it larger and lovelier.
- Maker
- after Robert John Thornton
- Date
- 1799–1807
- Medium of the original
- Plate
- Original held by
- Wellcome Collection · via Wikimedia Commons
- Credit
- Wellcome Collection · via Wikimedia Commons
- Rights
- Public domain, verified
- Catalogue number
- PA-01059
| Picture | 12 x 18 in |
|---|---|
| Outside size | 13.6 x 19.6 in |
| Depth | 0.9 in (22 mm) |
| Weight | [[REAL PROOF NEEDED: shipped weight per size and frame]] |
| Hanging | [[REAL PROOF NEEDED: hanging hardware Prodigi fits to this frame]] |
| Material | Enhanced matte art paper, 200 gsm; acrylic glazing |
| Made in | Charlotte, North Carolina, by Prodigi |
Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.
| Size | dpi | Grade | How it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 x 12 in | 268 | Excellent | Trimmed 0.4% |
| 12 x 18 in | 179 | Good | Trimmed 0.4% |
| Size | Why |
|---|---|
| 8 x 10 in | Wrong shape: a 17% crop |
| 11 x 14 in | Wrong shape: a 15% crop |
| 12 x 16 in | Wrong shape: a 11% crop |
| 16 x 20 in | Wrong shape: a 17% crop |
| 16 x 24 in | 134 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 18 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 11% crop |
| 20 x 30 in | 107 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 24 x 30 in | Wrong shape: a 17% crop |
| 24 x 36 in | 89 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 30 x 40 in | Wrong shape: a 11% crop |
| 36 x 48 in | Wrong shape: a 11% crop |
| 40 x 60 in | 53 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
- Scanned
- 2026-10-07
- Master file
- 2,150 x 3,238 px, srgb
- Tone
- Darks 30, lights 237 of 255; 0% clipped light, 0.1% clipped dark
- Colour
- 0% vivid
- Sharpness
- 165.4
- Notes
- Neutrals lean warm (yellow): the paper and varnish of the original, kept as scanned
Shipping for this piece to a US address is $25.90, the print room’s own rate, charged per piece. Checkout shows the total before you pay.
Every piece is printed after you order it, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and ships from there. For now we ship to US addresses only.
A piece that arrives damaged, misprinted or in the wrong size is replaced at our cost. The details: shipping and returns and replacements.
The Florilegium
The great flower books, printed for your wall.
All 82 pieces from The Florilegium
