No. 11, Rhubarb, Ruibarbo blanco, Cedros [Jatropha podagrica Hooker, Euphorbiaceae], watercolor on paper by Charles Dorat (?1806–ca.1870), 30 × 23.5 cm, HI Art accession no. 5683.11.
Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation
Pittsburgh, PA
April 2 – June 29, 2018
Charles Dorat (?1806-ca.1870) was a European physician and naturalist who lived in El Salvador and traveled in Honduras between 1850 and 1870. Acquainted with Central American medical professionals, government officials and companies interested in material medica, it is thought Dorat was hired by companies because of his knowledge of mining and economic plants.
While in Central America, Dorat pursued interests in nature and art, and by 1860 had painted 150 watercolors of useful plants. These paintings were supposed to be published as a flora of Central America, but Dorat appears to have died around 1870.
Learn more about Dr. Charles Dorat at Dr. Charles Dorat and His Unrealized Central American Medicinal Flora.
About The Hunt Institute
The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, a research division of Carnegie Mellon University, specializes in the history of botany and all aspects of plant science and serves the international scientific community through research and documentation. To this end, the Institute acquires and maintains authoritative collections of books, plant images, manuscripts, portraits and data files, and provides publications and other modes of information service. The Institute meets the reference needs of botanists, biologists, historians, conservationists, librarians, bibliographers and the public at large, especially those concerned with any aspect of the North American flora.
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