The Swedish botanist Carl von Linné or Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), represented in this engraving, is today considered the father of taxonomy, namely the naming of plants. This engraving, where Linnaeus is portrayed half-length seated with hand resting on papers and holding a flower, was made by the British printmaker Charles Eden Wagstaff (1798-1850), from a copy by the Swedish painter Lorenz Pasch the Younger (1733-1805) after the original by Swedish portrait painter Alexander Roslin (1718-1798). 

The Linnaean Collections are today kept at The Linnean Society on London. Acquired from the widow of Carl Linnaeus in 1784 by Sir James Edward Smith (1759-1828), botanist and founder of the Linnean Society, the Collections can be viewed and studied. 

Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) 1707-78. Swedish Botanist
etching and engraving, circa 1810-1840. 
(UCL Art Museum LDUCS-4533)

Location: UCL Art Museum
Image(s) courtesy of UCL Art Museum/UCL Culture