This anthology of love sonnets, published in 1578 by the French poet Pierre de Ronsard, was one of Matisse's most engrossing projects. From 1941, the year Skira proposed the idea to Matisse, until 1948 when the book was actually published, Matisse steeped himself in the sensuality and beauty of Ronsard's poetry, carefully selecting each sonnet to be illustrated. He chose to create the images with lithography, which offered him a freedom and spontaneity not possible in etching or linocut. As one critic wrote, the illustrations "harmonize perfectly with the vernal grace of style and whimsically erotic sentiment of the 16th-century master," here shown in profile in the frontispiece.