Linnaeus Triptych by Joe Lencioni

This past May marked the 300th anniversary of Carolus Linnaeus’ birth.

This triptych was commissioned as a gift for my friend, Linnea, by her mom. Considering that she was named after Linnaeus’ namesake, the Linnaea, or Twinflower, it seemed like the perfect timing for this piece.

I’ve enjoyed this particular sculpture for a while because it is very clever. First, in the first panel, you get to see the back of his wig which was designed to reflect the layout of Linnaeus’ gardens in Sweden that he used to teach his pupils. Second, the Linnaea flowers are etched into the lower portion of the sculpture. Third, the base of the sculpture is made out of a Linden (or Lime) tree, where the name Linnaeus comes from (which gives us a nice little etymology of sorts: Linden → Linnaeus → Linnaea → Linnea). Mr. Granlund was a smart and talented man and he really captured a lot of character in this sculpture.

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