Ambrosius Bosschaert workshop; 17th century.

Atelier of AMBROSIUS BOSSCHAERT (Antwerp, 1573- 1621); 17th century
"Vase."
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 68,5 x 66 cm; 105,5 x 88,5 cm (frame).
In this work the author captures an exuberant bouquet of flowers, arranged in several levels, almost like a garland, seated on the monumental vase of classic style that centers the composition. This is arranged on a flat surface, which we can identify with a stone parapet. The vase is placed in the foreground, with the flowers opening around it, occupying a large part of the surface of the painting and composing a balanced and settled scheme of a pyramidal character, although dynamic with regard to the flowers and the general diagonal lines of the composition. It is therefore a contained dynamism, tinged by the classical aesthetics, typical of the baroque. In fact, the diagonals defined by the flowers counterbalance each other, finally forming a slow rhythm, tending towards symmetry, contained in the classical manner. In this way, the points of light - the flowers - are compensated and balanced in a sumptuous but at the same time serene image. Around the bouquet of flowers, the background and the surroundings are in semi-darkness. The flowers thus become the absolute protagonists of the image, and as such are treated with the sumptuous, brilliant and highly nuanced tones typical of the Flemish flower still life of the Baroque period. However, warm tones, reds, oranges and ochers dominate. At a formal level, the clearly Flemish brushstroke also stands out, but already evolved in the dynamic sense of the Baroque, a tight, precise and very controlled brushstroke, mutable, which adapts to the representation not only of the different textures, but also of the subtle changes of light.
This style, together with certain details such as the shells on the table, bring this work closer to the workshop of Ambrosius Bosschaert, a Dutch still life painter and art dealer born in Flanders. He is recognized as one of the first painters to create floral still lifes as an independent genre and for founding a dynasty of painters dedicated to flower painting. He was born in Antwerp, where he began his career, but spent most of it in Middelburg. At the age of twenty-one he joined the Confraternity of St. Luke in the city, of which he became dean. He started a tradition of painting detailed bouquets of flowers, which often included tulips and roses, and inspired the genre of Dutch flower painting. Thanks to the flourishing Dutch art market of the 17th century, he achieved great success.