Johann Tobias Sonntag, Still Life with a Vase of Flowers, a Butterfly, and a Caterpillar
Inscribed to the back of the canvas on the lower right: J. T. Sonntag. pi [the rest of the inscription concealed by the stretcher]
Alongside still lifes, Tobias Sonntag from Darmstadt also painted large vedutas, landscapes, and hunting scenes. Among his most important works is a view of Darmstadt painted in 1746 which is now housed in the Darmstädter Schlossmuseum.
For several trompe l'oeil pieces with musical instruments by this artist, see: Rouven Pons & Rainer Maaß: Johann Tobias Sonntag (1716-1774). Der Darmstädter Maler, sein Gesamtwerk und der „Prospect von dem Meliboco und dessen Gegend" (= Quellen und Forschungen zur hessischen Geschichte 152), Darmstadt & Marburg 2007, p. 113-116.