Ferdinand Bauer

Ferdinand Lucas Bauer ( born January 20, 1760 Valtice, German Feldberg, † March 17, 1826 in Hietzing in Vienna ) was an Austrian botanical illustrator. He traveled with the expedition of Matthew Flinders in Australia and documented the local flora and fauna. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " FLBauer ".

Ferdinand Lucas Bauer was the son of the court painter of the Prince of Liechtenstein, Lucas Bauer, and a brother of the painter Josef Anton Bauer (1756-1831) and Franz Andreas Bauer ( 1758-1840 ). When Ferdinand was three years old, his father died. His first lessons in drawing issued to him, the prior of the local monastery, Norbert Boccius ( 1729-1806 ). At the age of 15 years with his brother Franz Ferdinand created a series of botanical miniatures. The brothers studied at the University of Vienna at the botanist Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin and graphic artist. There she also learned microscopy, which they used also yet to draw accurate and detailed images.

1786 Ferdinand traveled with the Oxford Professor John Sibthorp to the eastern Mediterranean region and created there about 1,000 colored drawings of plants, 363 animals and 131 landscape images, due to their 1806, the ten-volume, sumptuously illustrated work Flora Graeca was born. For the processing of collected drawings settled farmers about to Oxford. In 1801 he undertook thanks to the recommendation of Joseph Banks, a research trip to Australia as a draftsman at Matthew Flinders. By July 1802, he created 700 drawings of Australian plants and animals, a year later were added a further 600 images. In total he made on this trip in 2073 drawings, especially of Australian plants. But since he had not all the colors he needed it in sufficient quantity on the ship stock, he knew many of the sketches with color numbers to then gradually complete the journey. Since no one could meet high demands manufacturer at the completion of the works, he had to do the work yourself, which took a long time and also led that he did not publish any sketches. In addition, researched and recorded the farmer plants of Norfolk Iceland, a remote prison island in the Pacific Ocean.

1813 Bauer began his work Illustrationes Florae novae Hollandiae which, however, gave him no financial success. He left Australia in August 1814 and came back to Austria. There he continued until his death in Hietzing continues the work of English-language works.

A cape on the coast of Australia carries on Flinders ' proposal the name of Cape Bauer.