In the 18th century, Josef, Franz and Ferdinand Bauers – three boys from Valtice – left their Moravian town to travel to royal courts and prestigious scientific institutions across Europe. Their precise watercolours of botanical and zoological motifs are still considered among the world’s finest scientific illustrations. Lednice-Valtice Music Festival focuses specifically on their work as well as a new book about the geniuses of botanical illustration.
Newly published richly illustrated publication Bratři Bauerové: Příběh tří chlapců z Valtic (“The Bauer Brothers: The Story of Three Boys from Valtice”) presents the stories of three exceptional brothers whose names are indelibly inscribed in the history of botanical and zoological illustration for the first time in the Czech Republic.
The publication introduces children and adults to the lives of Josef, Franz and Ferdinand Bauer, who rose from a small Moravian town in the 18th century to royal courts and prestigious scientific institutions. Readers follow their story from their childhood in the monastery of the Merciful Brothers in Valtice, through their studies in Vienna and work on the so-called Codex Liechtenstein, to their international careers.
The book release takes place on Saturday, October 11, 2025, at 3.00 p.m. at Havlíčkova vila in Břeclav. An exhibition of illustrations from this book will also be opened at the same time. The event is organized by the Moravská krása foundation. (Do not forget to confirm your participation with the organizer by October 10, 2025 at nikol@moravskakrasa.cz or +420 608 888 468.)
The international activities of the Bauer brothers, combining their three talents and brotherly bond, gave rise to an unprecedented body of work. Josef became director of the Liechtenstein Gallery in Vienna, Franz served as court painter at Kew Gardens for George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland, and Ferdinand took part in research expeditions to Australia and Greece. Their precise watercolours are among the world’s finest examples of scientific illustration and are now preserved in institutions such as Kew Gardens, Oxford University or the Natural History Museum in London. Their work was also admired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who even compared it to that of Leonardo da Vinci.
Furthermore, LVMF 2025 visuals draw directly from The Bauer brothers’ legacy. With the kind permission of the Liechtenstein Princely Collections in Vienna, we have been granted the right to use a watercolour of the eastern “Canadian” redbud (Cercis canadensis) that the Bauer brothers created for the aforementioned Codex Liechtenstein. The codex, dating from 1776–1804, consists of 14 volumes with watercolour paintings of 2,748 plants and trees imported to South Moravia from all over the world. You can admire the redbud in the park of Lednice Castle near the minaret – in spring, you can recognize it by its characteristic pink flowers growing directly from the bark and large heart-shaped leaves.