# Carl von Linné artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/carl-von-linne/
Profile generated: 2026-05-29T11:44:45.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: Swedish
- Movements: 18th-century Enlightenment natural history illustration
- Common media: botanical illustration (hand-colored copperplate engraving), ink and watercolor botanical drawings, scientific manuscripts and annotated proofs

## About Carl von Linné

Carl von Linné (1707–1778), born Carl Linnaeus and ennobled by the Swedish crown in 1761, was a botanist, physician, and zoologist widely recognized as the father of modern taxonomy. He formalized binomial nomenclature, the two-part Latin naming system that remains the foundation for classifying all living organisms. While Linné was principally a scientist, his work generated a substantial body of botanical and zoological illustration produced under his close direction. The Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD) records him as a painter and draftsperson, reflecting original nature studies and botanical sketches attributed to his hand. His landmark publications—including Systema Naturae and Species Plantarum—required teams of engravers and colorists to produce detailed plates from workshop drawings. Collectors encounter Linné's name most often through hand-colored natural history prints, portrait engravings by 18th-century artists such as Alexander Roslin, and rare annotated manuscripts.

## Common works and media

Common works associated with Carl von Linné include hand-colored botanical engravings, zoological plates, and anatomical illustrations from publications such as Systema Naturae, Species Plantarum, and Hortus Cliffortianus. Portrait paintings and mezzotint engravings of Linné—most notably by Alexander Roslin and other 18th-century Swedish artists—appear regularly at auction. Original ink and watercolor botanical studies, herbarium specimen sheets with annotations, signed correspondence, and annotated manuscripts also surface occasionally. Later printed editions and reproductions of his botanical plates are widely available and generally valued well below first-edition originals.

## Market and appraisal context

Works associated with Carl von Linné at auction include hand-colored copperplate engravings from his publications, original botanical drawings, portraits of Linné by 18th-century painters, and autograph manuscripts or letters. Value depends on attribution certainty, whether a lot is an original drawing versus a published print, edition (first versus later re-strike), hand-coloring quality, condition of paper and pigments, and provenance linking the item to Linné or his workshop. Items directly connected to Linné—autograph manuscripts, personally annotated proofs, or original drawings—command significant premiums over standard edition prints. Collectors should verify attribution carefully, as most natural history plates bearing his name were produced by workshop artists executing his scientific vision rather than drawn by Linné himself.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine identity research from authority files, museum records, and library catalogs with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when available. For Carl von Linné, sources include Wikidata, the Getty Union List of Artist Names (ULAN), the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF), the Library of Congress, and the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1043
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Linnaeus
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500372798
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/34594730/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79109333
- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/424967