Scrambling Lily

By Pierre-Joseph Redouté

Create your own romantic atmosphere of Napoleon’s grand empire by hanging this elegant botanical print on your wall. This artwork, which is one of the pieces from the renowned folio book called “Les Liliacées,” was originally published between 1802 and 1816. The artwork shows the intricate beauty of the Medeola Asparagoides, also called the Scrambling Lily or Climbing Asparagus.

The drawing was made directly from the living plants grown in the famous collection of Joséphine Bonaparte, Empress of France, in her estate Chateau de Malmaison. Pierre-Joseph Redouté, who was known as the "Raphael of Flowers," used his famous technique of stipple engraving for this artwork. It allowed him to achieve an effect of natural gradations in the drawing due to small dots.