Caption:
Sweet violet, Violette, Viola odorata. Handcoloured copperplate engraving after an illustration by Pancrace Bessa from Charles Malos Guirlande de Flore, Garland of Flowers, Chez Janet, Paris, 1816. A gift book for ladies with fine miniature botanicals by Bessa, one of the great French flower painters of the 19th century.