Anne Vallayer-Coster (1744–1818) was one of just four female academicians admitted to the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in the late 18th century. She made her debut at the Paris Salon only a year after joining the academy with her outstanding still-lifes. Later, she secured Queen Marie Antoinette as a patron.

This book, the first English-language publication in over 20 years dedicated to this artist, provides a fresh, feminist re-evaluation of her biography and artistic context. Exploring the wide range of objects, materials and textures which the artist depicted – from food and flowers to guns and game – this study offers a new, synaesthetic framework for experiencing the visceral qualities of Vallayer-Coster’s still-life paintings as they were understood in her own time.