A Peony, Roses, an Iris, Poppies, Marigolds, Gardinia, Primulas, Morning Glory and Holyhocks in a terracotta Vase with a Bird's Nest and a Snail on a marble Ledge and a Red Admiral hovering above

Jan Frans van Dael was born in Antwerp in 1764. He studied architecture from the age of twelve at the Academy, winning a prize for drawing, before leaving for Paris in 1786 to undertake the decoration at the Chteaux of Saint-Cloud, Bellevue and Chantilly. His popularity is attested to both by the commissions he received from Napolon, Josephine and Charles X, and by the inclusion of his works in the Salon de Paris in 1793, the year in which he was installed at the Louvre as an official painter to the Court. He was made a member of the Lgion d'Honneur in 1825.

The present painting was executed in year IX of the Republican calendar which corresponds to the years 1800-1.