Oil on canvas, 32cm by 21cm. In a carved and gilded frame.
The painting is a pair to PIC169.
Brownlow, 9th Earl of Exeter (1725-1793), noted in the 1763 Burghley Inventory: ‘two flower pieces by Maria De Fioria.’
There is however, currently some discussion as to the identity of the artist.
One suggestion is that the paintings are Roman and indeed close to the work of Mario dei Fiori (1603-1673), another that they may be by Nicolas de Largillière (1656-1746).
Largillière spent some time in England as an assistant to Antonio Verrio (1639-1707), when he is thought to have painted a small number of still lifes, before becoming a noted portrait painter in his native France.
Verrio worked extensively at Burghley from 1686-1697.
