INSPIRATION PIERRE JOSEPH REDOUTé... Stella McCartney Resort 2011

Anemone 'Les choix des plus belles fleures' by Pierre Joseph Redouté [left] might have been the inspiration for this beautiful print in Stella McCartney's 2011 resort collection [right]. Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759-1840) was a Belgian painter and botanist, known for his watercolours of roses, lilies and other flowers at Malmaison. He was nicknamed "The Raphael of flowers". He was an official court artist of Queen Marie Antoinette, and he continued painting through the French Revolution and Reign of Terror. Redouté survived the turbulent political upheaval to gain international recognition for his precise renderings of plants, which remain as fresh in the early 21st century as when first painted.