REDOUTÉ, Pierre-Joseph

French painter and botanist, born in Flanders (Luxembourg) to a family of artists, both his father and grandfather were painters. He left home at the age of 13 to earn his living as an itinerant painter, doing interior decoration, portraits and religious commissions. Enthusiastically, he became an heir to the tradition of the Flemish and Dutch flower painters Brueghel, Ruysch, van Huysum and de Heem.

In 1782, he moved to Paris and pursued an artistic career. He was an official court artist of Queen Marie Antoinette, and he continued painting through the French Revolution and Reign of Terror. He was the official flower painter to Napoleon's empresses Josephine and Marie Louise, and Queen Marie Amelie. He survived the turbulent political upheaval to gain international recognition for his precise renderings of plants. He also created black and white botanical illustrations for scientific treatises.

Redouté lived a lavish lifestyle, and died in debt.