Jean-Baptiste MONNOYER Lille, 1636 - London, 1699 Bouquet of flowers on a stone entablature Oil on canvas Bouquet of flowers on an entablature, oil on canvas, by J. B. Monnoyer 57,50 x 48 cm (22,64 x 18,90 in.) Provenance: Richard Green Gallery, London (according to a label on the reverse) ; Probably acquired from the latter by Mr Jean Fraissinet; Then by descent; Private collection, Provence Comment: The art of Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer illustrates a genuine renewal of the still life genre in France during the reign of Louis XIV, moving from sober compositions with moralizing messages to a clearly ornamental discourse, using vases, pieces of silverware, fruit and flowers for their decorative value, sometimes in profusion, sometimes by arranging them with refinement and balance, as in the elegant bouquet presented here. On a stone pedestal stands a vase from which a majestic bouquet of varied flowers emerges, all at the height of their bloom, offering a spectacle of colourful, delicate or dishevelled petals and intertwined stems.