Six tempera paintings on parchment depicting still lifes with a decorated ceramic plate, resting on stone shelves, containing various types of fruit and flowers, attributed to Octavianus Monfort (Racconigi 1620-Turin 1696). He was very active in Turin. He began his painting activity very young, in 1636 he already boasted the position of "assistant of Madama Reale" and being a protégé of Cristina of France, he was free to follow the work of the painter of the Savoy court, Giovanna Garzoni, falling in love with miniature painting. In 1646, further documents attest that Monfort was already a formed and active personality at the Savoy court, which appreciated his art so much that it granted him an "annual pension of 1200 silver lire". His painting, which is decorative, is always very recognizable stylistically, due to the fine treatment of details and the delicate blown effect of the color. The success achieved was very high and considering that to execute parchments of this type with such fine details required a lot of time, it is believed that he had his own atelier, where students assisted the master in the creation of the paintings, which in Piedmont had a constant fortune until his death in 1696. Our tempera paintings, due to the light backgrounds and the more accentuated use of yellow, can be dated to the last period of activity of the master and his workshop. Parchment dimensions 19.5x30.5 with antique frame 26x37
