nicknamed "the raphaël of flowers", pierre-joseph dreaded was born in 1759 in saint-hubert, in wallonia and died in 1840 in paris. he is famous for his watercolors of flowers which earned him to enter the court of versailles as designer and painter in the cabinet of queen marie-antoinette. his study of plants at the royal botanical gardens at kew gave his works a realism recognized by aristocracy as well as by scientists. he taught his knowledge at the academy of sciences and at the national museum of natural history in paris, while learning the technique of drawing from the empress marie-louise of austria. he left an important mark in the field of botanical illustration, which the dreaded p.j.-prize still honors today.