Flower painter
Pierre-Joseph Redouté
(1759–1840) devoted himself exclusively to capturing the diversity of flowering plants in watercolor paintings which were then published as copper engravings, with careful botanical descriptions. The
darling of wealthy Parisian patrons
including
Napoleon’s wife Josephine
, he was dubbed “
the Raphael of flowers
,” and is regarded to this day as a
master of botanical illustration
.
This collection brings our best-selling XL-sized edition to a
smaller, more convenient format
, still gathering some of the
finest color engravings from Redouté’s illustrations of
Roses
,
Lilies
, and
Choix des plus belles fleurs et quelques branches des plus beaux fruits
(
Selection of the Most Beautiful Blooms and Branches with the Finest Fruits
). Offering a vibrant overview of Redouté’s admixture of accuracy and beauty, it is also a privileged glimpse into the
magnificent gardens and greenhouses of a bygone Paris