In the early 1670s, De Heem created a small number of sumptuous flower arrangements that demonstrate his accurate botanical and entomological observational powers and unrivalled illusionism. Here, a large glass vase on a cracked gray hardstone ledge displays a vibrant profusion of cultivated and field flowers, as well as the branches of stone fruit and berries – in all about twenty species of flowers, six different fruits, and sixteen distinct insects are represented. De Heem animated this bouquet with numerous small narratives, as insects busily roam through nearly every section of the arrangement.
The plants and blooms assembled in Glass Vase with Flowers and Fruit are readily identifiable and were accessible to De Heem in botanical and private gardens in the north and south Netherlands. The artist combined elements from different seasons to create a fantastical bouquet of great sumptuousness and visual interest. To reinforce the veracity of his renderings, De Heem represented some blossoms as slightly past their peaks.
The diversity of plants assembled by artists in bouquets had, from the earliest examples of the genre around 1600, represented the variety and richness of God’s creative powers – a broad meaning applicable to the present work. The delicacy and seasonality of flowers and fruits also imbue this still life with the profound message about the transience and brevity of life.
Text: J. Paul Getty Trust, CC BY 4.0.
