BRUNFELS, OTTO

born c. 1488, , Mainz died Nov. 23, 1534, Bern, Switz. botanist, considered by Carolus Linnaeus to be one of the founders of modern botany. Brunfels entered the Carthusian monastery in Strassburg in 1514 as a priest of the austere religious order. He remained until 1521, when, becoming acquainted with humanists, he fled the monastery. He was then a pastor in Steinau for three years and in 1524 opened a school in Strassburg. In 1532 he became town physician in Bern, where he remained until his death. His works include the two volumes of Herbarum vivae eicones (153040; Living Pictures of Herbs); the text is a collection of old and new commentaries on plants, with little lasting scientific value other than records of medieval properties. The drawings are detailed, accurate, and realistic; this work helped move botany away from medieval herbalism, with its tradition of folklore, toward its emergence as a modern science. Later botanical illustrators influenced by Brunfels' work strove to achieve greater accuracy.