The Garden of Earthly Delights by Adriana Picker

This book has a natural science characteristic to it. The author brings us details from close, shapes of twisted mushrooms, frogs, lizards and butterflies framed by gorgeous flowers and luscious vegetation. I just love how the illustrations show a diversity of elements that are not usually present in other books : ants, dead birds, worms. It is a wholesome view of nature, in all its processes.

The book has a square format, and there’s no dust jacket. The paper has a light cream tonality and very nice texture. It’s thinner than I would have liked, a heavier weight that could handle paint would have been really nice. Illustrations are printed on both sides of the page and the images have no margins or frames.

The Garden of Earthly Delights is one of my favourite books. I’m fascinated by the detail and movement in the beautiful drawings of Adriana Picker.