A pair of Still Lifes of Roses in Vases

a beautiful example from the school of 'the Raphael of flowers', the most celebrated botanical artist of his day;
Redoute's patrons included two Empresses and two Queens, and his prodigious talents placed him at the centre of French court life, both before and after the Revolution. He was appointed drawing master to Marie Antoinette, yet despite his connections to the Royal family he survived the Terror and went on to become the court and flower painter to Empress Joséphine. It was because of her patronage that Redouté undertook Les Liliacées, which together with Les Roses, constitute the artist's greatest works. Although Joséphine had died three years before the publication of Les Roses, it was the unequalled collection of roses on her estate at Malmaison that provided the artist with his inspiration.