Banksia coccinea, Plate 3 from Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae

Ferdinand was the son of the official court painter to the Prince of Liechtenstein, Lucas Bauer, (?-1761), and brother of the painters Josef Anton and Franz Bauer. The eldest was the successor to their fathers position, Ferdinand and Franz would also gain experince wih Norbert Boccius (1729-1806), a practioner of medicine with a keen interset in botany. Ferdinand and his brother contributed to a series of botanical miniatures, the first when he was 15 years old. Their education was continued at the Vienna University, under the botanist and artist Nikolaus von Jacquin. They were introduced to the field of microscopy, and a keen understanding and talent few detail was discovered.

The lives of Ferdinand and Franz changed dramatically following offers from two eminent English scientists. Ferdinand went abroad in 1786 after meeting the Oxford Professor John Sibthorp. They travelled to the eastern mediterranean, later producing the illustrations for Flora Graeca from the sketches and specimens he made there. Bauer later travelled to Australia with Matthew Flinders as botanical draughtsman, after being recommended by Joseph Banks. He had made 700 drawings of plants and animals by July 1802, and about 12 months later he speaks of having completed nearly 600 more. When Flinders set sail for Britain, Bauer remained in Sydney and took part in expeditions in New South Wales and to Norfolk Island.

In 1813 Bauer began his Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae which was not a financial success, partly because the artist was so conscientious that he endeavoured to do all the work himself including the colouring of the plates. He returned to Austria in August 1814 but continued to do much work for English publications including Lambert's Pinus and Lindley's Digitalis, etc. He died on 17 March 1826. The name of Bauer has been perpetuated in several Australian plants, and Cape Bauer on the Australian coast was named after Ferdinand by Flinders.

External links

• View more biographical information about and digitized titles by Ferdinand Bauer in ''Botanicus.org''

References

See also

• List of Austrian artists and architects

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