Giant bulb | Icons of Tulip Cultivation - Lisse

This giant tulip bulb was painted by artist Kees Putman. He likes to paint the sea, but people and landscapes also remain an important source of inspiration for his artworks.

For this tulip bulb, he depicted several key figures from the history of tulip growing. Five faces are depicted:

1. Carolus Clusius (1526-1609), who was one of the most important botanists of his time. After travelling extensively in Europe, he came to Leiden in 1593. He became director of the Hortus Botanicus and planted the first tulip bulbs in the Netherlands there.

2. Hans Gillisz. Bollongier (1600-1645), a Haarlem painter of the Dutch School. He was one of the few painters from that city who specialised in flower still lifes and thus depicted many tulips.

3. Judith Leyster (1609-1660), painter who painted the Brabantsson tulip in great detail. Meanwhile, her painting is one of the best-known images of the famous Tulip Book from the 17th century. This book was commissioned by growers and traders who wanted to show their buyers what beautiful flowers come out of the bulbs.

4. Prof Dr E. van Slogteren (1888-1968), thanks to him an environmentally friendly way was found to eradicate stem nematode, a parasite that severely affects leaves of daffodils. By simply immersing the bulb in water at 43°C, the bulb remains intact while the nematodes die.

5. Dirk Lefeber (1894-1979), a nurseryman from Lisse who developed numerous new subspecies. For instance, he created the famous 'Red Apeldoorn'. He promoted tulip exports and co-founded the Keukenhof.