'Karel van Vogelaer or Carel de Vogelaer or Distelbloem' (1653 - 8. August 1695) was a Dutch still life painter of the Baroque period primarily active in Italy where he was known as 'Carlo dei Fiori'.

Vogelaer was born in Maastricht, his father was Pieter de Vogelaer, also an artist. In 1668 he started to travel through France, then about 1671 he moved to Rome (first mentioned 1675 in the Bentveughels (society of artists) where they gave him the nickname 'Distel-Blum', means "thistle Flower" and where he shared a house with fellow Flemish painter Anthoni Schoonjans in the Via Margutta. He trained or worked in the studio of Carlo Maratti, who became famous because of his huge floral still lifes. This influenced him a lot i...