on the drawer front of an old vintage chest? I want to do something to the rest of this chest, but I'd also really love to preserve/save the hand painted bouquet on the front.

In my mind, I'm thinking of waxing over it? or maybe putting some water based poly over the top around the edges of the flowers and then carefully wiping off any paint that gets on the edges as I'm painting the rest? Will this work? any better suggestions?