A white rose (Rosa Geminata); A white rose (Rosa Sempervirens Leschenaultiana)

These two highly finished drawings were engraved for Les Roses, the monumental three volumes with engravings after drawings by Redouté published with text by Claude-Antoine Thory (1759-1827). Besides being celebrated for its artistic achievement, Les Roses is also valued for its scientific importance. Thory, an ardent botanist who owned a large collection of roses, came to live in an estate neighbouring Redouté's soon after 1814. Some of the specimens used for the publication came from Thory's collection, while for other specimens they had to rely on other Parisian collections. The most significant one was at Château de Malmaison, which was bought in 1799 by the Empress Joséphine (1763-1814). In that same year Redouté seems to have met the Empress and she became his most important patron. His work was acknowledged in 1805 when the artist was appointed 'Flower Painter to the Empress'. During her patronage the Empress commissioned three major publications from Redouté: Les Liliacées, with 486 plates published in eight volumes from 1802 to 1816, Le Jardin de Malmaison, with 120 plates in two volumes published in 1803-05, and finally Les Roses, published between 1817 and 1824, after the fall of Napoleon and the death of the Empress.