# Mandrake [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [GARZONI, Giovanna]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Watercolour and ink on vellum, 495 x 380 mm ## Commentary Mandrake c. 1650 Watercolour and ink on vellum, 495 x 380 mm Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, Washington This sheet is part of a herbarium \(plate 8\) illustrated by Giovanna Garzoni comprised of fifty botanical tables and preceded by a self-portrait of the artist. The drawings in the manuscript are accompanied by inscriptions that identify the species. In the upper right hand corner the botanical name appears as it was likely indicated by the naturalist who guided the artist during the creation of the herbarium. The name is repeated in fine calligraphy by Giovanna Garzoni next to the root of the plant. The Mandrake \(Mandragora autunnalis\) is a plant widely found in southern Italy and was revered for its alleged magical properties. ## Related artworks - [Bitch]() - [Bowl with Plums]() - [Branch of Dittany with Four Hazelnuts and Two Pears]() - [China Bowl with Figs, a Bird, and Cherries]() - [Chinese Porcelain Plate with Cherries]() - [Chinese Vase with Flowers, a Fig, and a Bean]() - [Figs]() - [Hyacinth with Four Cherries, a Lizard, and an Artichoke]() - [Plate of Figs]() - [Plate of Peas]() - [Portrait of Carlo Emanuele I, Duke of Savoy]() - [Ranunculus with Two Almonds and a Hymenopteran]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()