A trompe l'oeil with a partridge hanging from a red ribbon, a fly and a snail on the wall behind

Hendrik de Fromantiou is best known for trompe l'oeil paintings of dead birds and game painted as if just brought in from the hunt. Cast shadows against the monochrome wall and details such as the frayed edges of the ribbon and the fly that has just landed heighten the illusionism of these works, the threshold between the painted space and the world of the viewer being the true subject of these paintings. Trompe l'oeil with a partridge hanging from a red ribbon is one of only a dozen known gamepieces by Fromantiou. They range in date from 1666 to 1679, making this one of the earliest, and in their crisp drawing style and fijnschilder technique reflect the influence of still life painter Willem van Aelst. His later gamepieces such as Still life with partridge, pheasant, and hunting gear (Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht), are more traditional and often include elaborate arrangements of accessories related to the hunt.

Fromantiou was born in Maastricht around 1633 and by 1658 had settled in The Hague. In 1670 he was recorded as court painter to the Elector of Brandenburg in Berlin, a post he held for the rest of his life. He also served as director and conservator of the Elector's collection, counselor for scenery at the royal chateaux, and art agent. The Elector sent him all over Europe including to the Lely sale in London and several times to Amsterdam, where he attended a trial against the art dealer Gerrit Uylenburgh, who had offered Italian paintings of inferior quality to the Berlin Court in 1671. In 1672 he married Philips Wouwerman's daughter in Amsterdam. He must have attained a certain degree of prosperity during his lifetime as each of his seven children received relatively large inheritances after his wife's death in 1670. Fromantiou died in Berlin around 1694.