HOLTZBECKER, Johannes Simon
German flower painter. Although he enjoyed a great reputation during his lifetime, when his work was commissioned by the wealthy and the noble, Holtzbecker has gone unrecognised in the intervening centuries. This gross oversight is due to the rarity of his work - he executed approximately 3000 flower paintings, but they are contained in only 4 works (in 11 volumes) - but even more to the unfortunate misattribution of his masterpieces. Thus his slightly later compatriot, Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), herself a great botanical artist, has until recently been credited with almost all of Holtzbecker’s known work.
Holtzbecker is now recognised as the artist of four florilegia: the Gottorf Codex, painted in the 1650s for Friedrich III, duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf; a florilegium very possibly created for Friedrich’s wife, Duchess Maria Elisabeth; the Anckelmann florilegium, signed by Holtzbecker and dated 1660, painted for the Anckelmann family of Hamburg; and the Moller Florilegium, painted for Barthold Moller, member of the Moller family, a leading family of Hamburg, among whom were counted businessmen, diplomats, and city councillors.
Interestingly, Holtzbecker appears to have painted almost exclusively on vellum, the most luxurious and expensive material, again indicating the high status of his patrons.
