Background
Agneta Block was the daughter of a successful Mennonite textile merchant.
Botanist horticulturist illustrator painter
Agneta Block was the daughter of a successful Mennonite textile merchant.
She is most remembered as the compiler of an album of flower and insect paintings. In Amsterdam, she lived on the Herengracht close to Joost van den Vondel, who became a regular visitor at her house. Vondel had married Mayken de Wolff, who was the sister of Agnes"s first husband"s father.
This elderly uncle ate at her house on Fridays, and is probably one of her greatest influences.
She enjoyed drawing and painting in water colors, and her garden lent itself to this hobby. She is registered as an artist with the Dutch Institute of Art History as a papercut artist and painter, but no works survive.
To embellish her albums, she hired artists to paint for her albums. Unfortunately, her collection, and the garden have not survived, but research has revealed many of the original pages of her three albums in the albums of later collectors.
Agnes Block"s stepson owned a summer house in Purmerend, near Hoorn.
Agnes Block was in regular correspondence with other horticulturalists such as January Commelin.