The Mystery Surrounding his Still Lifes Born into a well-off family in Pithiviers in about 1610, Lubin Baugin seems to have learnt to paint in the Fontainbleau group before arriving in Paris around 1628-1629. Nowadays, it is agreed that the still lifes which made him so famous date back to his youth. Not having been apprenticed to a Parisian master, Baugin was not able to enter the brotherhood of painters of that city. Like numerous other provincial and foreign painters (mostly Flemish), he then went to live in rue du Coeur-Volant, in the precinct of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. This area enjoyed a privilege that enabled painters to work and sell their pictures there, mostly to private buyers. A large proportion of these works have since disappeared due to random circumstances such as families moving house or bequeathing pictures to people elsewhere. And thus only four of Lubin Baugin's still lifes have come down to us. To these we should add the Nature morte au couteau, also known as the Nature morte au plat en étain and Nature morte à la miche de pain, whose attribution is not definite. Baugin's output was interrupted by his journey to Italy. Lubin Baugin was inspired by Northern pictures, but his still lifes set him apart. They have an immediate appeal because of the skilful and subtle austerity of their construction. The one which appears to be the earliest, the Nature morte à la coupe d'abricots, is close to the compositions of Louise Moillon, three of which are owned by the Musée des Augustins. In the Nature morte à l'échiquier, the strong black and white lines of the chessboard oppose the roundness of the mandora. The Dessert aux gaufrettes introduces entirely new colour harmonies of yellow and blue, as well as using an original harmony of forms arising from the primary volumes of the glass and wine flask and the interaction of the crossed cylinders of the dish of wafers. A comparison of these still lifes with his later works leads to the conclusion that this sense of perfection really is his hallmark. Although his experience in Italy led to a change of style, Baugin - like Zurbarán, the grand master of the Spanish Golden Age - continued always to put the plastic effect before the subject.