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Pancrace Bessa Biography
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One of the leading painters of flowers and fruit in the first half of the 19th century in France, Pancrace Bessa was a pupil of the engraver Gerard van Spaendonck. He was also influenced by the work of his older contemporary, Pierre-Joseph Redouté, with whom he also studied (one of only a handful of men to do so, as Redouté’s pupils were mostly women). As highly regarded in his day as van Spaendonck or Redouté, Bessa was, however, less prolific than either. He enjoyed the patronage and protection of the Duchesse de Berri, to whom he was appointed flower painter and drawing master, and also worked for the Empress Joséphine. Bessa exhibited at the Salons between 1806 and 1831, when he retired to Ecouen. Bessa’s most important commission was a series of 572 watercolours for the Herbier général de l’amateur, commissioned by Charles X for the Duchesse de Berri, his daughter-in-law. The project was begun in 1816 and Bessa worked on the series until 1827. In 1823 Bessa was commissioned by the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle to produce studies of flowers.
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