Roses

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Art teacher to French royalty including Queen Marie Antoinette and both of Napoleon's wives, Pierre-Joseph Redoute had come from an artistic family in the Ardennes and, prior to discovering flower portraits, specialized in religious frescoes. It was during a visit to the Netherlands that he came across the work of Van Huysum. So entranced was he by the Dutch floral paintings that, despite working for his brother painting theatre sets during a lean period in his life, he managed to find time to paint small floral water-colours which soon attracted the attention of leading botanists of the time. Inspired by Empress Josephine's garden at Malmaison Chateau in Paris, he collaborated with botanist Claude-Antoine Thory to produce "Les Roses", originally intended as a scientific work but which soon became, due to Redoute's illustrations, a collectors item which captured the public's imagination with its beauty. Printed in sections between 1817 and 1824 it soon sold out and unfortunately the actual paintings were destroyed in a fire in the Library of the Louvre. However,the prints have been reproduced time and time again to perpetuate their beauty and inspire future generations. This concise edition, with close-ups of many of the prints, is prettily presented in a boxed set which includes 12 notelets of Redoute's paintings making it the perfect gift for any rose lover.