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Pierre-Joseph Redoute was born on July 10, 1759.
He was born in the Belgian village of Saint
Hubert in the Belgian Ardennes. His father Charles
- Joseph Redoute was also a painter and
decorator and was employed to decorate the
Abbey of Saint Hubert.
At the age of 13 Pierre-Joseph set off from Saint
Hubert heading towards Paris where his
brother Antoine was working as a decorator.
In Paris Pierre-Joseph met Monsieur Demarteau,
an eminent engraver. He became a student
of his as a flower painter while he continued to
work with his brother as a decorator.
Monsieur L'Heritier, a wealthy magistrate with a
passion for Botany introduced Pierre-Joseph to
many famous and influential people of the
period. He even paid for Pierre-Joseph to travel
to England to meet Sir Joseph Banks. L'Heritier
was also an innovative Botanist who wanted
all his illustrations to be drawn from life. Prior to
this artists used pressings from the various
Herbariums to paint from.
In 1804 Pierre-Joseph was appointed 'Painter to
Josephine, Empress of the French'. He was paid
18,000 francs a year (a significant sum).
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