Pierre Joseph Redouté, whom many consider to be the greatest flower painter of all time, was born in St. Hubert, Luxembourg, which is now part of Belgium. He followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who were artists and interior designers, taking up the trades at the tender age of thirteen and practicing them on an itinerant basis throughout the low countries for the next ten years. It was during this period that he first became interested in floral painting after viewing the works of Jan van Huysum and Rachel Ruysch.

In 1782, Redouté journeyed to Paris to join his older brother, Antoine Ferdinand, a successful decorator and stage designer. There he was able to pursue his interest in flower painting through specimens obtained at the Jardin du Roi. It was there that he came to the attention of Gerard van Spaendonck and Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle, a jurist and member of the lower gentry who was also an amateur botanist, who were to serve as the two dominant forces in the development of Redouté's work. L'Héritier served as Redouté's first patron and taught him to dissect flowers and portray their diagnostic characteristics. Through L'Héritier, Redouté was introduced to members of the court of Versailles, which eventually led to his appointment as draughtsman and painter to the cabinet of Queen Marie Antoinette.