 | |
| from The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
A Stoneware Vase of Flowers, by Jan Brueghel the Elder c. 1607 - 1608.
For the Dutch, flowers are a staple of life - like bread and cheese. Every market has a multitude of flower sellers, their stalls bursting with colour. Flowers aren't a rare treat for a special occasion but something to collect when you're doing the weekly shop. Or to bring to a friend's home when you drop by....
So I was discussing this painting this week with friends - someone raised the interesting question of how exactly it was painted. It contains flowers from all the seasons, so Jan (Bruegel's son) either painted from memory or over an extended duration, as the flowers came and went. Today we have greenhouses and fly in flowers from all over the world - so gathering together flowers from different seasons wouldn't be a problem - but in the 1600s....
This painting shouldn't work - or so the logical part of my brain tells me - the tulip stems are much to long, and let's face it, there's no way such a small vase would stay upright with this volume of flowers. But it does work. The ultimate bouquet.
