Jules Janick, James Troop Distinguished Professor of Horticulture at Purdue University, will speak in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum on Monday, March 5, from 7 – 8:30, as part of the Director’s Lecture Series. Works of art from antiquity to the present constitute an alternate source of information on horticultural technology and science, providing significant information on subjects such as the history of technology, crop evolution, lost traits, and crop dispersal. Sources include ancient mosaics, sculpture, illustrations of medieval manuscripts, renaissance paintings, and illustrations from illuminated and printed herbals. The uses of art as a source of horticultural technology will be illustrated using examples of Paleolithic sculpture and painting, Egyptian and Mesopotamian sculpture and painting, ancient Greek paintings, Roman mosaics, Medieval illuminated herbals, and Renaissance art in its many manifestations including illustrated prayer books, fresco ceilings, paintings, drawings, sculpture, and woodcuts from printed herbals. The program is free but registration is required at 617-384-5277, or sign up on line at www.arboretum.harvard.edu.
