Pierre Joseph Redouté (Belgian, 1759 – 1840) has been called the world’s greatest botanical illustrator (Wikipedia). He painted these three plates and others for the bound botanical volume called Les Roses, supported by Josephine Bonaparte and published in Paris by Firmin Didot, from 1817 – 1824. A fine copy of the first edition of this book goes to auction at Sotheby’s, New York, on 26 October 2017, with an estimated price of 225,000 – 325,000 USD.