Schriften zu Genetischen Ressourcen - Genres

Paintings from the 16 th to 18 th centuries as a source for investigating the evolution of vegetables
Fig. 1: Market scene, by Jean Baptist Saive, Namur 1540-Malines 1624. Private
collection
• Three paintings, made in Flanders, show savoy cabbage with a yellowish heart,
whereas paintings from North-Netherlands do not show this colour type. This difference
may indicate that the savoy cabbage with a yellowish heart only occurred in 17 th -century
Flanders.
• After harvest of cabbage and cauliflower the stems remained on the field. So paintings
do not show the length of these stems. Only one painting depicts cauliflowers with stems
of some 30 cm.
• Several shapes of the roots of turnips occurred.
• On the continent turnips are white, whereas in England the consumer demands brownish
ones. This difference helps in identifying the country where a painting with turnips has
been made.
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