From the time of the Greeks and Egyptians, flowers appear as artistic imagery. They provided symbolic meaning to the eye of the beholder. Medieval manuscripts continued this tradition of embellishment and imagery. They brought beauty and meaning to otherwise drab and uncomfortable lives.

With the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century, it became possible to publish texts with accompanying illustrations. Early botanical images were meant to be used as herbal guides for developing medicines, dying yarns, and preserving foodstuffs. Gardens known as "hortus medicus" were developed for that purpose exclusively and plants from the new world were eagerly sought after as additions.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, plants began to be valued for their intrinsic beauty. The concept of displaying them purely for enjoyment in a natural setting provided the beginning of today's gardens - although only for the privileged few. It was also the beginning of the great Florilegia - these sumptuous studies of flowers in design and color showed the unique beauty of each species or private collection.

In the eighteenth century, expeditions in search of trade or colonization brought back specimens for governmental and private collections. Systematic studies of the structure of plants began to accompany their decorative depictions. Color printing appeared in various forms making larger editions and wider distribution possible. Nature was translated into art - in tapestry, porcelain, and paintings.

By the nineteenth century, an emerging middle class with both money and leisure to collect and grow botanical specimens was eager to have botanical graphics. The invention of lithography and chromolithography made larger and more economical volumes available. Expanding empires provided explorers, naturalists, and artists with unlimited opportunities for field studies. It is in this century also that gardens as we know them today, with borders and layers of color, appeared. With the invention of the camera, the great age of botanical art comes to an end.