François-Nicolas Laurent

A pupil of Baron Gérard, François Nicolas Laurent specialised in paintings of flowers and fruit. He was nicknamed "the painter of flowers and fruit in the crown's furniture repository". Like other artists of his generation, Laurent produced works using enamelled materials and meticulous execution, recalling the influence of Flemish painters such as Spaendonck and van Dael, who worked in France, particularly for the Sèvres manufactory. His paintings often feature a frontal composition: a bouquet of flowers in a luxurious vase set against a marble entablature. He exhibited at the Salon from 1801 to 1819.