Pamono After Jean Baptiste Blain de Fontenay, Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase, 1700, Oil on Canvas, Framed> Old Masters

Jean Baptiste Blain de Fontenay (1653; 1715) attributed. Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase Circa 1700. Relined canvas measuring 69 cm by 57 cm. Frame measuring 91 cm by 69 cm. This superb painting shows a bouquet of flowers in a vase on an inverted capital serving as an entablature. At the foot, two fruits, in the background a red velvet curtain. Jean Baptiste Blain de Fontenay (1653; 1715). Born in Caen in 1653 to Louis Blin, painter, and Jeanne Degron, he joined the studio of Jean Baptiste Monnoyer, of whom he was most certainly the best student. In order to apply to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, he was forced to renounce his faith in 1685. He was admitted on November 16, 1687, with his still life Vase of Flowers and Bust of Louis XIV (a painting now in the Louvre). The same year, he married Monnoyer`s daughter, Marie Monnoyer. The couple had four children, including Jean Baptiste II in 1688 and Jacques in 1698, who also became painters. Among his most notable works, he decorated the châteaux of Fontainebleau, Versailles, Compiègne, and especially Marly. Housed at the Louvre and given a pension by Louis XIV, he also produced several cartoons for the Gobelins factory. Like his master, he devoted himself especially to painting fruits and flowers, emphasizing the sumptuousness and theatricality of his compositions, which were embellished with curtains, goldsmith pieces, and other architectural elements.