Un Sedicesimo 49

The 15 flowers contained in this Sedicesimo represent a very small part of the Herbarium Microscopicum by Clemente de’ Vallisneria. A work beyond compare in the world of botany: in terms of size (it comprehends a countless number of flowers, and the cataloguing is still ongoing), in terms of the type of flowers featured (bioluminescent and diatomaceous flowers not visible to the human eye and hitherto unknown) and in terms of the mystery that surrounds the author of this work, about whom very little is known, or as he would wish, almost nothing. That perhaps explains his choice to put on the frontispiece of the Herbarium this aphorism by Vladimir Jankélévitch on: “Love is more of a respect of a mystery than a desire to know”.