Iris - Pierre-Joseph Redouté - Felix Rose 1995 - Framed Print - 14"H x 11"W

Iris - Pierre-Joseph Redouté - Felix Rose 1995 - Framed Print - 14"H x 11"W

Pierre-Joseph Redouté, was a painter and botanist from the Southern Netherlands, known for his watercolours of roses, lilies and other flowers at Malmaison. He was nicknamed "the Raphael of flowers" and has been called the greatest botanical illustrator of all time.

He was an official court artist of Queen Marie Antoinette, and he continued painting through the French Revolution and Reign of Terror. Redouté survived the turbulent political upheaval to gain international recognition for his precise renderings of plants, which remain as fresh in the early 21st century as when first painted.

He was painting during a period in botanical illustration that is noted for the publication of outstanding folios. Redouté produced over 2,100 published plates depicting over 1,800 different species, many never rendered before.

Today he is seen as an important heir to the great flower painters Brueghel, Ruysch, van Huysum and de Heem.

Iris is a genus of 260–300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, which is also the name for the Greek goddess of the rainbow, Iris. Some state that the name refers to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species. As well as being the scientific name, iris is also very widely used as a common name for all Iris species, as well as some belonging to other closely related genera.

Interesting Fact:

French King Clovis I (466 – 511), when he converted to Christianity, changed his symbol on his banner from three toads to irises (the Virgin's flower).

The fleur-de-lis, a stylized iris, first occurs in its modern use as the emblem of the House of Capet. The fleur-de-lis has been associated with France after Louis VII adopted it as a symbol in the 12th century.

The red fleur-de-lis in the coat-of-arms of Florence descends from the white iris, which is native to Florence and which grew even in its city walls. This white iris, displayed against a red background, became the symbol of Florence until the Medici family, to signal a change in political power, reversed the colors, making the white one red and setting in motion a centuries-long breeding program to hybridize a red iris.