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The artist was an important painter of Viennese Biedermeier, and his paintings were very popular among the Austrian aristocracy. He studied at the Academy in Vienna under Professor Johann B. Drechsler. In his work he focused on floral still lifes, later adding still lifes with fruit and Dutch-style landscapes. The Still Life with Roses, arranged on a flat stone by a tree trunk, is a beautiful, meticulous painting that captures the finest details, such as a drop of dew, a leaf that has been nibbled on, and a graze on the tree trunk. The light focuses on the flowers, while the trunk in the background recedes into the shadows. Signed and dated on bottom right "Franz Xaver Petter 1859". Oil on canvas.