Abraham Munting Botanical Prints: Floating Flowers and Surreal Gardens
Abraham Munting (1626–1683) was a Dutch botany professor whose plates do something no other antique botanical artist attempted: his plants float. Tulips, aloes and cyclamen hover in mid-air above miniature landscapes — tiny villages, rivers and hillsides rendered beneath dangling roots — with elegant ribbon banners carrying each plant's Latin name. The effect is somewhere between scientific illustration and surrealist dream, three hundred years before surrealism existed. If you want antique botanical art that nobody else on your street has, Munting is the answer.
The Professor Behind the Floating Gardens
Munting held the botany chair at the University of Groningen, where he directed the botanical garden founded by his father — a collection so celebrated it became known as the Paradise of Groningen. His illustrated botanical works, culminating in the posthumously published Phytographia Curiosa, broke every convention of the specimen plate. Rather than pressing plants flat against blank paper, Munting suspended them theatrically above tiny scenic worlds, roots exposed like a magician's reveal.
That theatrical staging is why decorators love him today: each plate is simultaneously a botanical study, a miniature landscape and a graphic curiosity.
Inside the Munting Collection: 40 Framed Plates
Our Abraham Munting collection at FramedArt.com spans eight series, from budget-friendly small formats to dramatic statement plates.
The Signature Floating Botanicals
Munting Botanicals I — Framed from $266.69. The newest six-plate series, also available in matched 2- and 3-piece framed wall sets — the fastest route to a complete Munting wall.
Scenic Botanical I — Framed from $266.69. Munting at his most Munting: a botanical specimen hovering over a miniature countryside. Six plates in the series; hang three in a row and watch guests lean in to find the tiny villages.
The Budget Entry Point
Imperial Munting I (small format) — Framed from $107.09. The lowest-priced framed plates in the collection — all four Imperials in small format cost less than $430 framed, making this the most affordable complete antique botanical grid we offer from any artist. The same images are available in larger format from $266.69.
The Tonal Series: Sepia & Antique
Sepia Munting Foliage I — Framed from $239.39. Six warm sepia plates that read like pages from an old herbarium — the go-to series for earthy, neutral and farmhouse-adjacent rooms.
Antique Munting Aloe I — Framed from $198.09. Aged-paper aloes with that architectural, spiky silhouette — a natural companion to the Besler aloe plates for a full succulent study wall.
The Statement Plates
Cyclamen Flore I — Framed from $331.79. A tumbling cascade of cyclamen, one of the most striking single images in the collection; the pair (I & II) flanking a doorway or mirror is a designer move.
Vintage Aloe I — Framed from $266.69, alongside the four-plate Grandiose View series (from $237.29) for the classic tinted treatment.
Framing the Floating Flowers
Munting's plates have built-in depth — the landscape below, the specimen above — so the framing should add air, not compete. Our recipe: a wide 3-inch mat to give the floating composition breathing room, a slim walnut or antique-gold frame, and non-glare glazing so the tiny landscape details stay readable from any angle. For the sepia series, an oatmeal or cream mat instead of bright white keeps the warm tones cohesive.
Where Munting Wins Over Other Botanical Artists
Compared with the formal symmetry of Basilius Besler or the garden romance of Sydenham Edwards, Munting brings wit. His plates suit rooms that want a conversation piece: powder rooms, bar corners, libraries, entry halls — anywhere a guest lingers close enough to discover the tiny worlds under the roots. And because his retail competition is thin, a Munting wall is genuinely uncommon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Abraham Munting?
Abraham Munting (1626–1683) was a Dutch botanist and professor at the University of Groningen, where he directed the celebrated botanical garden known as the Paradise of Groningen. His illustrated plates, published in works like Phytographia Curiosa, are famous for showing plants floating above miniature landscapes.
Why do Munting's plants appear to float?
Munting staged each specimen theatrically — suspended above a tiny scenic vista with roots exposed and a ribbon banner bearing its Latin name. The convention made his plates instantly recognizable and gives them an almost surrealist character today.
What is the most affordable Munting series?
The small-format Imperial Munting plates, framed from $107.09 each — a complete four-plate framed grid for under $430.
What decor styles suit Munting prints?
Collected, eclectic, earthy and heritage interiors all suit Munting; the sepia series fits neutral and farmhouse rooms, while the scenic botanicals shine as conversation pieces in powder rooms, libraries and entries.
Shop the Collection
Browse all 40 plates in the Abraham Munting collection at FramedArt.com — including matched 2- and 3-piece framed wall sets from $328.99 — every piece custom framed to order in New Jersey. Continue the antique botanical series with our Besler gallery wall guide or the wider botanical art gallery.