Title Page with a Bouquet of Peonies, Jacques Bailly (I), c. 1670
These two prints are from a series of twelve bouquets that the French miniature painter Jacques Bailly etched around 1670. The way in which the flowers, loosely gathered with a ribbon, are depicted is not only true-to-life, but also quite remarkable. The artist rendered the various tonalities and shaded passages with parallel lines only, which vary in density and thickness.