I bet you thought Redoute only painted roses! Cactus grandiflorus from Plantarum historia succulentarum
I wrote recently about the gardens and the greenhouse that Josephine, the wife of Napoleon, created at Malmaison near Paris. Employing some of the leading botanists and gardeners in France, and never short of a franc or two, the empress was able to give rein to all her wildest horticultural desires. However she knew that gardens are ephemeral and she was equally determined that her collection would not be forgotten.
Talleyrand, the cynical French diplomat who acted, amongst other things, as Napoleon’s foreign minister was asked whether Josephine had intelligence. He replied that no-one managed as brilliantly without it as she did. However her way of ensuring that the garden at Malmaison lives on eternally gives the lie to that.
These days her way of capturing her garden and its rare plant collection would be endless photographs, video clips on YouTube and probably a TV programme or two hosted by a prominent TV celeb gardener.
These were not choices open to Josephine. Instead she had to make do with choosing the best botanical artist then alive to paint them and publish the result. By choosing Pierre-Joseph Redouté the job was done, and Malmaison and its plant collection [not just its roses] are still remembered , even though the gardens really only lasted about 25 years.
If that’s not intelligence I’m not sure what is!
