Hector Giacomelli

Tempera on silk. Although mounted on a framework, this is a fan leaf.
The subject of flowers and exotic birds fully reflects the specialization of the painter.
The size dates the work to the last decade of the nineteenth century.
 
Brief biographical sketch:
 
Hector Giacomelli (Paris, 1 April 1822 – Menton, 1 December 1904).
Son of an Italian singing teacher, he devoted himself to jewellery design in Paris from 1844 to 1854. Following an illness, he had to move to the countryside where he studied and painted birds, flowers and insects.
In 1873, he received a prize at the Vienna Exhibition.
He wrote and decorated books, spent time with and collaborated with artists and engravers of his time, including Gustave Dore.