Nicolas Robert (French, 1614-1685), Tulips. Photo: Bonhams.

watercolor and bodycolor with gold border on vellum, 17 x 12 3/8in (43.2 x 32.1cm). Estimate US$ 6,000 - 8,000 (€4,300 - 5,700)

Nicolas Robert was one of the most prominent natural history painters of the 17th century. He started his illustrious career as royal painter with the patronage of Duke Gaston d'Orleans, brother of Louis XIII and an enthusiastic botanist, who commissioned him to paint the rare plants, flowers and birds at Blois.

After Gaston's death, the collection of watercolors on vellum was left to king Louis XIV, who had them deposited at the Jardin des plantes in Paris. Robert entered the service of the king in 1666 as peintre ordinaire du Roi pour la miniature with a contract that required him to paint 54 vélins, or vellums, every year. These watercolors number around 700 and constitute the nucleus of the Collection des vélins of botanical art and natural history, now in the library of the Musée Nationale d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.

Bonhams. 19TH CENTURY EUROPEAN ART INCLUDING OLD MASTER PAINTINGS, New York, 7 May 2014 - http://www.bonhams.com