In the depths of Eden

This illustration is taken from one of the most remarkable French panoramic wallpapers, produced in 1861 by the Desfossé Manufacture.

Paradisio Imaginarium brings to life 18th- and 19th-century illustrations drawn from the exceptional collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Part of France’s decorative heritage, these historic works have required hundreds of hours of meticulous reconstruction and restoration. This painstaking process has allowed us to bring our own sensibility to this magnificent design through a carefully considered palette of new nuances and colours.

L’Éden truly lives up to its name. This paradisiacal landscape presents an idealised vision of nature in shades of blue and green, where dense forests, mountains, cascades of flowers and animals come together in a lush and dreamlike setting. It reflects an era when great botanical discoveries fuelled the imagination and fascination with distant lands.

Conceived as an earthly paradise without seasons or geographical boundaries, the composition brings together an extraordinary variety of species: lily of the valley, viper’s bugloss, Alpine carnations, Caucasian scabious, clivia, Peruvian amaryllis, Amazonian bromeliads, Indian lotus, European water lilies and Japanese hydrangeas, alongside oaks, cedars and palm trees. All coexist within this extraordinary Edenic world, where nature becomes an endless source of wonder.

Manufacture: Desfossé
Collection: Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris
Photographic credit: MAD Paris / Jean Tholance
Inventory no.: 52450