10 things about Jacob Vosmaers’ still life with flowers

Although he is no longer as famous as he was, in his own time he was very successful. His name first appears on the list of master painters of the Delft Guild in 1613, and his paintings sold for large sums in this period.

Still Life of Flowers with Crown Imperial Fritillary in a Stone Niche is regarded as his best work.

The painting features a magnificent array of rare and costly flowers. The orange Crown Imperial from Asia towers over the other flowers. This variety had only been introduced to Europe a few decades earlier.

Vosmaer painted this still life on a broad plank of tropical hardwood, and only added strips of oak to its sides. This is another element that makes the painting so exotic and special.

The same is true of many floral still lifes. He paid great attention to the volume and composition of the bouquet, as well as the curvature of the stems, the curling leaves, and the colours.

The mouse, the subtle use of light, the fractures in the stonework and the fallen leaves all breathe life into the painting.

The Flemish painter Jan Brueghel the Elder was the first to specialise in paintings of bouquets. He was followed by artists such as Ambrosius Bosschaert and Roelant Savery, through whom the genre developed and blossomed.

Just look at the difference between the painting of Vosmaer and the floral still life that was painted by the workshop of Jan Brueghel the Elder

This was carried out in accordance with the guidelines set by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). Everybody will be able to enjoy it in the Gallery of Honour from 1 June.

The still life with flowers was acquired last year thanks to the support of the Mondriaan Fund, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science’s Nationaal Aankoopfonds, the Rembrandt Association (thanks in part to its Nationaal Fonds Kunstbezit, its Themafonds 17de-eeuwse schilderkunst, and a contribution from the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds), the BankGiro Lottery, the Rijksmuseum International Circle and a private donor.