Flowers in a terracotta vase with fruit on a ledge

Jean-Baptiste Belin (Blin) de Fontenay, is recorded from 1672 as training in the Paris studio of Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (to whom the painting has traditionally been attributed), and whose daughter he later married. As a Protestant he was affected by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, and he made a prudent public recantation of his faith before being presented at the Académie Royale in 1685.

Often collaborating on projects with his father-in-law, Belin de Fontenay was employed painting flowers in the decoration of several royal châteaux, including Compiègne, Marly, Fontainebleau and Versailles, where he worked on the Escalier de la Reine.

We are grateful to Claudia Salvi for suggesting the attribution to Belin de Fontenay and a date of circa 1710-5, from a color transparency (written communincation, 16 February 2006).