Redoute, Pierre-Joseph

Redouté is regarded as one of the greatest botanical artist's of all time. He was born in 1759 in Liege. He started work in Paris in 1782, designing stage scenery and painting cathedrals. The botanist Charles-Louis L'Heritier recognised Redouté's genius and gave him much encouragement as well as teaching him plant anatomy. Redouté's career as a botanical artist quickly flourished. Under the empress Josephine Bonaparte's patronage, Redouté produced some of the greatest botanical art, such as "Les Roses" and "Choix des Plus Belles Fleurs”. He perfected the art of stipple engraving. This labor intensive, expensive technique created stunning variations of color. Redouté developed his own special version of stipple engraving in which he added all the colors at once to the engraved copper printing plate.