Nicola van Houbraken

Nicola van Houbraken (1660 - 1723), as his name suggests, was of Flemish origin, although his family had established themselves in the Sicilian port city of Messina. His father Ettore was also a still life painter, and Nicola followed him in his choice of subject matter. He appears to have left Sicily for Livorno as a child, possibly in 1674 at the time of the Messinese ...