Magnificent floral still life was executed in the early 18th century and due to the stricking style time of creation and flower composition was attributed to the hand of famous French still life painters of Baroque Epoch Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay (Caen 1653 - 1715 Paris) the Senior or Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay ( 1688 - Paris - 1730 ) the Younger. Both artists, father and son, were flower painters and their styles and compositions are very similar. J.B.Belin de Fontenay the Senior was a French painter who specialized in flowers. He was born in Caen, France in 1653 and died in Paris in 1715. Early in life he was forced to choose between his Protestant religion and his career. The revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685 forced most Protestants to flee France to escape religious persecution. Belin decided to renounce his Protestant faith and converted to Catholicism in order to continue his work at the court of Louis XIV. Belin was the pupil of Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer, whose daughter he married, and whom he succeeded as a flower painter at the Gobelins Manufactory. Belin painted floral murals in several of the royal chateaus, including Fontainebleau and Versailles, where he worked on the Escalier de la Reine (Queen´s Staircase), since destroyed. He also collaborated with other painters, providing the floral borders in portrait paintings and tapestry cartoons for Gobelins manufactory from 1687. Towards the end of his life, the king honored him by providing him with a pension and lodgings in the Palais du Louvre. One of his sons was named Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay II (1688-1730) and painted in a similar style.Elysee palace (Paris), the Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge), the Honolulu Academy of Arts, the Louvre, the Musee des Beaux-Arts (Caen,France) and Versailles vare among the public collections having paintings by Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay .

Provenance: Paris noble private estate.

Literature: E. Benezit " Dictionary of painters, sculptors, decorators and etchers"(in French), Paris, 1999; "General Artist´s Lexicon " by Thieme/Becker.

Inscription: unsigned, on the reverse of original baroque frame - old label in French with Paris adress.

Technique: oil on canvas, original baroque gold-plated frame.

Measurements: unframed w 20 1/2" x h 24 1/2" ( 52 x 62 cm), framed w 28 1/3" x h 32 1/4 " (72 x 82 cm)

Condition: good original uncleaned condition, no visual inpaintings or losses, antique relining of canvas .