Butterfly Bee Fruit Insect Illustration Playing Cards

Vintage Bee and pear Butterfly Caterpillar illustration from Mediaeval Manuscript - This illustration is from the manuscript, "Mira calligraphiae monumenta" or "Model book of Calligraphy", this vintage insect and fruit illustration shows a bee flying over a vintage pear, which a vintage caterpillar is walking on, and a vintage butterfly is flying next to. It's quite a menagerie of vintage things! The illustration was created by mediaeval illustrator Joris Hoefnagel (Flemish and Hungarian, Austria) in the late 1500s. From 1561 to 1562, Georg Bocskay, the Croatian-born court secretary to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, created the words on the page for the Model Book of Calligraphy in Vienna. The purpose of the book was to demonstrate calligraphy writing styles. Thirty years later, Emperor Rudolph II, Ferdinand's grandson, commissioned Joris Hoefnagel to create illustrations to go along with the calligraphy. Hoefnagel's illuminations included this page, showing fruit and insects; Hoefnagel was known for painting natural objects. Our fruit and insects look great on our gifts. The bee, butterfly, caterpillars, and pear are wonderful gifts for someone who loves mediaeval art.