Jan Van Kessel,

(information from (Wikipedia) 
Above is a portrait of the artist Jan Van Kessel by artists, ‘’Hubertus Quellinus ( print maker) ; and  Jan van Meyssen (artist)’’. The title is ‘’Flemish flower painter Jan Van Kessel’’ and it was printed in the book, ‘’Het Gulden Cabinet, by Cornelis de Bie’’, dated 1662. It is a hand coloured print. 

And this is the signature of Jan Van Kessel. 

This is the first one of his paintings that I came across. I loved it on sight because it has forget-me-nots beautifully drawn at the bottom, and because now I know forget-me-nots have been exactly as they are for hundreds of years. This is one of the best forget-me-not paintings I have ever seen, they are so realistic. 

I’ve not found very much written information about him or his work but I’m assuming these are all little oil paintings. 

I like them for so many reasons, imagine how perfectly they must be painted and cared for to still be here over 300 years later, and think about the continuity of life. In these little detailed drawings are insects and plants that we can still find in our gardens today, they are instantly recognisable. 

And I find it a comfort to know what roams in my garden today, happily roamed in other gardens 300 years ago. There are other little insects that are not so easily recognisable, maybe they don’t exist in today’s gardens, and if that’s the case, we have Jan Van Kessel to thanks for keeping them alive and looking as if they just crawled across his page. 

I admire this mans technical expertise as a painter, but I admire him as a man for his obvious love of nature. These are tiny things, little ‘crittes’ that most folk would not even see, he not only saw them but was interested and observant enough to make detailed drawings and paintings, he’s my kind of man. 

Taken fro Wikipedia;  Jan van Kessel, senior (Antwerp, 1626-idem, 1679) was a Flemish painter of still lifes. He was the father of another painter with the same name Jan van Kessel (junior), and Jan Brueghel the Elder's grandson. 

He became a member of the Antwerp painters' guild and was influenced by Daniel Seghers (1590–1661). According to Houbraken, he was famous in his lifetime for the neatness of his flower paintings and Cornelis de Bie wrote a poem about him. 

He joined the Antwerp painters' guild in 1645 and specialised in small-scale pictures of subjects gleaned from the natural world such as floral still lifes and an allegorical series showing animal kingdoms, the four elements, the senses, or the parts of the world. 

Obsessed with picturesque detail, Van Kessel worked from nature and used illustrated scientific texts as sources for filling his pictures with objects represented with almost scientific accuracy. Jan van Kessel painted many animals (especially insects) and flowers, as well as some mythological and biblical scenes. His choice of subject leaned towards those which included animals and plants.