Baldassare Cattrani Flora Watercolor

(Untitled)

Baldassare Cattrani (fl. 1776-1810)
From a Collection Botannique
Watercolor on vellum, with border, double-ruled in black ink
c. 1809
20 x 14 inches sheet
Provenance: The Collection of Prince Eugene de Beauharnais
Stunning Botanical Watercolors by A contemporary of Redoute‚ Paid for by Napoleon's Step-Son while he was commissioned in Italy.
Baldassare Cattrani, Roman by birth and a contemporary of Pierre-Joseph Redoute‚, was an incredibly significant figure in botanical art during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Not only did he gain permission to study and paint in Padua's legendary botanical garden from esteemed directors Giovanni Marsili and Giuseppe Antonio Bonato, but he also won highly prized commissions from Empress Josephine at Malmaison.
The watercolors offered represent a handful of the works Cattrani most likely executed for Eugene Beauharnais, son of Josephine, loved stepson of Napoleon Bonaparte, viceroy of Italy and eventual duc de Leuchtenberg. Nearly unparalleled in terms of depth and quality, Cattrani's watercolors are masterpieces of the highest order.