Juan de Arellano was a Spanish painter from baroque era. He was the notable painter of flower pieces in 17th-century Spain.
The theme of floral Still-life was known in Spaniard's work, but Arellano was encouraged and inspired with Flemish and Italian examples in Madrid from c. 1650. He had tremendous success in this genre.
One can recognize the influence and inspiration by the Antwerp flower painters Jan Brueghel the Elder and Daniel Seghers, and later by Italians such as Mario Nuzzi and Margarita Caffi.
Arellano began to paint flowers only in his thirties after a beginning that showed little promise. In his second period his works became more personal, reflecting the great knowledge he gained in this field.
The natural floral arrangements seen in these paintings were the result of Arellano's careful ordering of the flowers. He derived this type of composition from his study of earlier Flemish flower paintings and prints, and varied it little throughout his career. It is hard to distinguish the flowers he painted from nature from those deriving from other sources, memory and practice.
He was a prolific artist who sold his paintings directly from his shop on the Calle Mayor in the centre of Madrid. He run a workshop during forty years in which flower pieces were produced by other artists and sold under his name.
