Abstract-- We aim for content-based image retrieval of textured objects in natural scenes under varying illumination and viewing conditions. To achieve this, image retrieval is based on matching feature distributions derived from color invariant gradients. To cope with object cluttering, regionbased texture segmentation is applied on the target images prior to the actual image retrieval process. The retrieval scheme is empirically verified on color images taken from textured objects under different lighting conditions. Keywords-- Texture, image segmentation, image similarity, retrieval, color constancy, color invariance, image databases, digital libraries.