Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay the Elder (1653–1715)

• Was a French painter who specialized in flowers.

• He was born in Caen, France in 1653.

• Early in life he was forced to choose between his Protestant religion and his career.

• The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 forced most Protestants to flee France to escape religious persecution.

• Belin decided to renounce his Protestant faith and converted to Catholicism in order to continue his work at the court of Louis XIV. 

• Belin was the pupil of Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer, whose daughter he married.

• Belin painted floral murals in several of the royal chateaus, including Fontainebleau and Versailles.

• One of his sons was named Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay II and painted in a similar style.

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