Plate 131, Fritillaria Imperialis, from "Les Liliacées"

1802–16

Not on view

Published in eighty parts between 1802 and 1816, Les liliacées is Redouté’s largest and most ambitious work, and perhaps the one for which he is best known today. Each of its 503 plates contains a lifesize and naturalistic depiction of a flower, carefully rendered in stipple engraving and watercolor. Redouté created the portfolio under the patronage of Josephine Bonaparte, who cultivated a great variety of flowers in her garden at the Château de Malmaison. Her roses served as Redouté’s models for his equally elaborate publication Les roses (1817–24).

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Plate 131, Fritillaria Imperialis, from "Les Liliacées"
Series/Portfolio: Les Liliacées
Artist: Pierre Joseph Redouté (French (born Belgium), Saint-Hubert 1759–1840 Paris)
Date: 1802–16
Medium: Hand-colored stipple engraving
Dimensions: Sheet: 20 5/8 × 13 7/8 in. (52.4 × 35.2 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Bequest of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2019
Object Number: 2019.282.43
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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By Pierre Joseph Redouté

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From the same time and place

A Stag Beetle, Pierre Joseph Redouté French, Watercolor heightened with white on vellum — A Stag Beetle
Pierre Joseph Redouté

Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French — Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century

Benjamin Rush M.D. L.L.D., William Satchwell Leney American, born England, Stipple engraving — Benjamin Rush M.D. L.L.D.
Engraver William Satchwell Leney
After Thomas Sully
Sitter Benjamin Rush
1814

Gloriosa Superba (Climbing Lily), Pierre Joseph Redouté French, Watercolor and gilt on vellum — Gloriosa Superba (Climbing Lily)
Pierre Joseph Redouté
ca. 1810

Osage Warrior, Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin French, Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper, American — Osage Warrior
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1805–7

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