The Mackintoshes visited Cintra in Portugal in 1908, presumably on holiday. This is one of the most elegant compositions of Mackintosh's flower studies, combining pencil drawings of the plant's leaves and a dissection of its seed pod, overlaid with a watercolour depiction of the flower in various stages of its life. This layering of different views and elements within a composition had been used regularly in his pencil architectural sketches from about 1900 onwards and can be seen in other drawings of Cintra buildings made at this time.
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