312 i Flora Unveiled
(a)Figure 11.6 Botanical illustrations of Albrecht Dürer. A. Holy Family with Three Hares
(woodcut). B. The Large Piece of Turf (watercolor and gouache on vellum).
herbals, rather than improving in quality, became more and more stylized. Eventually, they
became little more than iconographic symbols.^54 Various reasons have been given for this
deterioration. First, there was a learning curve before European printmakers had acquired
sufficient skill to reproduce the detailed botanical illustrations found in the contemporary
manuscript herbals. Second, printers were businessmen who needed to make a profit on their
books. Printed herbals were still a novelty with little or no competition, so there was zero eco-
nomic incentive to invest in top- quality artists. Third, the early printed herbals were aimed at
the general public rather than the universities and medical schools, where scientific accuracy
was a high priority. The general public was content with decorative icons.
Leading artists of the fifteenth century disdained woodcut printing (with the
exception of one master, Martin Schongauer), but acceptance of the new technique