Brill, Flatfish Folio leaf from: De piscibus by Aldrovandi. Bologna, N. Thebaldini 1638 Hand coloured woodcuts. On fine laid paper. Nissen ZBI 70. Nissen, Fischb. 7. Westwood/Satchell 3. Huber 56. - Aldrovandi (1522-1605), " ... He was referred to by his contemporaries—perhaps not entirely without irony—as the Pontifex Maximus of natural history, who took thoroughness and verbosity to the extreme. From an artistic point of view, however, his figures are to be praised without reservation...” (Nissen, Fischbücher S. 14 f.). Nissen particularly commended his woodcutter Cristoforo Coriolano (Lederer?) from Nuremberg, who, together with his grandson, carved the figures so elegantly that they resembled copperplate engravings. Good. Please view the images carefully.