Rosebush with Sharp Petals - Rosa Indica Acuminata

by Pierre-Joseph Redouté

Experience the majesty of imperial France in your own space with this stunning botanical illustration from the incomparable Pierre-Joseph Redouté, known as the "Raphael of Flowers."

This exquisite botanical print, from the period of 1817 to 1824 in Redouté’s masterpiece, Les Roses, features Rosa Indica Acuminata, or the Rosebush with Sharp Petals. Commissioned by the fervent Empress Joséphine Bonaparte herself to catalog her incomparable collection of roses from the Château de Malmaison, this illustration exemplifies Redouté’s ability to capture the shift from raw botanical history to cultivated elegance.

This unique species is distinguished by the dramatic effect of pointed petals along with elegant toothed leaves that give the classic softness of the rose an organic architectural feel. Using his trademark stipple technique, which involved thousands of small dots instead of bold lines, Redouté was able to replicate the light of the living flower with the transparency of real watercolors.