Pancrace Bessa

Bessa Bessa's favourite subjects were fruit and flowers, with occasional digressions to birds and mammals. In 1816, the Duchesse de Berry, daughter-in-law of King Charles X of France, extended her patronage to him, which led to his giving painting lessons to the de Berry family. Their art connections went back to the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Bessa also worked on the French royal watercolour collection on vellum the Velins du Roi from 1823 until his death. In the early nineteenth century, Bessa, Redouté, Jean-Louis Prévost, Lancelot-Théodore Turpin de Crissé, and Madame Vincent raised France to pre-eminence in the genre of botanical painting. Bessa and Redoute collaborated on the Histoire des Arbres Forestiers de L'Amerique Septentrionale, which appeared between 1810 and 1813. He prepared some 572 watercolours for L'Herbier Général de L'Amateur by Mordant de Launey and Loiseleur Longchamp, which appeared between 1810 and 1826. Description des Plantes cultivees a Malmaison a Navarre used 9 of Bessa's illustrations and 54 by Redouté. Bessa’s final work was Flore des Jardiniers, published in 1836.

Training under Antoine Ferdinand Redouté, Gerard van Spaendonck and Jean-Baptiste Paulin Guérin is recorded. The recorded working language is French. Places of work recorded in the authority are Écouen, Berry and Paris. Work by Pancrace Bessa is recorded in the collections of Minneapolis Institute of Art and Muséum national d'histoire naturelle.

• Name — Pancrace Bessa • Born — 1 January 1772 • Died — 11 June 1846 • Occupation — natural history artist

Pancrace Bessa is recorded with the occupation botanical illustrator. Recorded as botanist, illustrator, painter, watercolorist and printmaker.