1863 Mielck Comparative Chart of the Heights of Monuments versus Trees

This is an 1863 Eduard Mielck comparative chart of the world's monumental trees and buildings. The chart depicts the comparative heights of eighteen of the world's 'monumental buildings' and eighteen of the world's tallest plants. The buildings, which include the Great Pyramid at Giza, the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, St. Paul's in London, St. Michael's Tower in Hamburg, and the Luxor Obelisk in Paris, are all numerically identified. The plants, however, are labeled alphabetically, and include a California sequoia, a Norfolk Spruce from New South Wales, a German pine, a baobab from Senegal, and a Lebanese cedar. To provide a scale for the piece, an elephant is illustrated standing next to a man in the lower left corner, allowing the viewer some idea of the monumental nature of these buildings and plants.

Publication History and Census

This chart was created by Eduard Mielck and published in his Die Riesen der Pflanzenwelt in 1863.