Pierre-Joseph Redouté's illustrations for Les Liliacées constitute some of his best known work. Redouté explained the purpose of the publication: 'It is not only for the pleasure of the eyes that I have undertaken the... work; naturalists have long regretted their inability to conserve the Liliaceae [a genus encompassing fragile fritillaries, crocuses and irises] in their herbaria; the accuracy of the descriptions and the fidelity of the engraving will save them the trouble of trying.'

In this print the technique of colour stipple engraving is used to reproduce the delicate flower heads of this iris. Redouté learned about the potential of stipple engraving on his visit to England in 1786 and experimented with and perfected the method on his return to France. He promoted the technique as effective in recreating the sheen of the leaves and petals found in his original watercolours. Following a successful court case in which he defended his rights to use it he declared: 'The process which we invented in 1796 for colour printing consists in the employment of these colours on a single plate by a method of our own. We have thereby succeeded in giving to our prints all the softness and brilliance of a water-colour, as can be seen in our Plantes Grasses, Liliacées and other works'.