Barbara Regina Dietzsch (German, 1706-1783)
Maltese Cross, also known as Jerusalem Cross or Scarlet Lychnis (Lychnis chalcedonica) with Leopard Moth
Watercolor with gouache and gold leaf on vellum
ca. 1765
Vellum size: 14 x 10 3/4 in. Frame size: 21 1/2 x 17 1/2 in.
Provenance: With art antiquarian Hans Marcus (1912–1992), Düsseldorf, Germany. Purchased by Arader in 1987 in a group of approximately 60 works by Barbara Regina Dietzsch.
# AP01163

Dietzsch’s luminous vellum depicts Lychnis chalcedonica L. (Maltese Cross, also known as Jerusalem Cross or Scarlet Lychnis) paired with Zeuzera pyrina L. (Leopard Moth). Lychnis chalcedonica is native to southwestern Russia and central Asia and was introduced into European cultivation by the sixteenth century, where it was found in formal and cottage gardens across the continent. Its vernacular name refers to the resemblance of its pronged scarlet petals to the cross of the Knights Hospitaller. Zeuzera pyrina, a wood-boring moth of the family Cossidae, is native across Europe, including the Nuremberg region where Dietzsch lived, as well as North Africa, and temperate Asia. Thus, the pairing is a decorative choice rather than an ecologically correct one.