[Sca-cooks] Red Tomato in Nature Illuminated

[johnna holloway]

Earlier this week I received a copy of
Nature Illuminated
Flora and Fauna from the Court of Emperor Rudolf II.
It reproduces forty-one pages from the original
Mira calligraphiae monumenta which combines the
calligraphy from Georg Bocskay and
illuminations by the miniaturist Joris Hoefnagel who
"filled the spaces on each manuscript page with insects, fruits,
flowers, and
other botanical images."

These include a distinctly red tomato. There are kidney beans
and scarlet runner beans also.
It turns out that the page faeturing the tomato can be
seen at:
http://www.getty.edu/bookstore/samples/nature_smp.shtml

A number of other food plants are illustrated.
Hoefnagel died circa 1601, so the work
can be dated late 16th century or 1590's.

Johnnae llyn Lewis  Johnna Holloway