Flemish School XVII, Ambrosius Bosschaert (circle Of) Floral Arrangement In Vase Medici

Flemish school of the seventeenth century, circle of Ambrosius BOSSCHAERT the old (1573 - 1621) Important floral composition in a Medici vase inside an architectural niche Oil on canvas Size at sight: 63 x 45 cm - framed: 80 cm x 63 cm Old blackened wooden frame with a rabbet (close to a Salvator Rosa frame) Elegant still life from the 17th century, the golden age of painting in the Netherlands (Flanders was then Dutch). This floral composition in a Medici vase, probably in bronze, has a stylistic signature particularly typical of Ambrosius Bosschaert, Flemish master, born in Antwerp, famous for his dazzling still lifes: the representation of a bouquet of flowers belonging to the space of a niche (underlined here by the old framing). The niche (stone or beige marble) stops well at the rabbet, architecturally sober by a subtle lighting. This stylistic trait is found in the work of the descendants of Bosschaert the elder, his two sons, Johannes and Abraham, also inscribing their still life within niches. Finesse of the touch, strongly architected composition summoning the diversity of the flowers cleverly orchestrated (lily, peonies, tulip, cornflower, rosebuds, carnations -the carnation symbol of the resurrection of Christ ...), respecting a chromatic balance enriched by a strong and the original herbaceous component in the plume of the bouquet, the subtlety of the play of light, the inscription in a niche, so many clues that send us back to Bosschaert the elder or his sons. Faced with a still life, the artist's contemporaries did not see a single aesthetic exercise, a decorative injunction, a clever and very elegant bouquet, but much more a reminder of the Ephemeral at the very heart of the representation of the Beau - and the flowers express the quintessence of ephemeral beauty; a moral painting of the ephemeral and the need to become aware of it: tempus fugit ergo carpe diem. Flemish painters of floral still lifes, even more than Italian painters, never abandon this allegorical and philosophical dimension which exalts plasticity as an object of contemplation, an aesthetic clutch with an introspective vocation. Responding fully to the meditative genre of Vanity, the presence of carnations (see also Bosschaert's work preserved in the Louvre) makes hope triumph over the turpitude of the human condition, its fragility but its beauty. The beauty of hope Possible work of the master's studio whose rating is particularly high (for example: 2,250,000 euros in the United States for "Flowers in a marble niche) .Concurrent work related: a sketch completed format similar to one of his masterpieces dotted with Lepidoptera in the collections of the Mauritshuis museum, vase of flowers in a window, circa 1618. Canvas of origin thick (hemp or linen) A small restoration visible on the reverse of the canvas. very beautiful state of conservation Discover on the site of our gallery by clicking here