Gabriel de la Corte

Gabriel de la Corte (1648 – 6 August 1694) was a Spanish painter with little success who lived in poverty, specializing in the painting of vases, baskets, garlands and signboards, that he had learned to paint without help of any teacher. The painting of flowers acquired a prestigious category during the last decades of the 17th century, taking such a distinguished position away from the painting of fruits and, above all, grapes, that was very fashionable during the first years of the six hundreds. In this context Gabriel was selling his works “on account of the necessity”, at a very low price, and some of the Madrid painters of that time charged him with the job of helping them in their minor works.