Malta Orange - Botanical print 50x70cm Fine Art

Citrus sinensis – Maltese Orange

In 19th-century Paris, fruit sellers distinguished between two main families of oranges: those with red flesh, known as Maltese, and those with yellow flesh, called Portuguese.

Yet, behind this convenient classification lay an unsuspected diversity. Poiteau keenly observed that a single Portuguese orange tree could bear fruits that were round and oblong, with yellow and red flesh, and even, an extraordinary fact reported in February 1830, an orange of which a quarter showed the characteristics of a citron. This variability, a source of astonishment for botanists of the time, attests to the remarkable plasticity of citrus fruits and the mystery that still surrounded their reproduction.

The Maltese orange is distinguished by its vinous red flesh, its thin, uniform, and shiny skin; criteria for the best qualities according to Parisian vendors.

Poiteau noted a fascinating botanical particularity: contrary to what Gallesio asserted, these red oranges contained numerous perfectly formed seeds, some harboring up to four or five embryos within the same envelope, a phenomenon then little understood, today explained by polyembryony, more frequent in orange trees than in any other plant family.

The author also notes an astonishing behavior: fruits left on the tree after December lose their juice in spring during the sap rise, then refill in autumn to become "better than the first time," a living illustration of the balance of plant fluids.

This plate is taken from Pierre-Antoine Poiteau and Pierre Jean François Turpin's Traité des Arbres Fruitiers, a fruit encyclopedia published between 1807 and 1835, a major reference in 19th-century naturalistic illustration.

It combines the rigor of scientific drawing with a rare artistic sensibility, characteristic of the great plates from the golden age of illustrated botany.

• Each poster is printed with 12-color giclée printing, the benchmark for art workshops for rendering fine tones, subtle gradients, and the most delicate botanical details.
• 200 g/m² paper weight, soft matte finish, 0.26 mm thickness: a finish close to the original engraving, sharp, without glare, designed for hanging.
• Printed on FSC certified paper, produced individually to order.
• Shipped in a rigid protective tube.