NARRATOR:
Floral still life as an independent genre originated in 17th-century Holland with artists like Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder. Painted on a polished copper plate, a material that allowed for extraordinary painterly precision, this bouquet in a glass beaker is brightly illuminated against a dark background.
Tulips and irises dominate the arrangement, which also includes pink and red carnations, a double-flowered daffodil, and a radiant yellow garden ranunculus. Smaller flowers fill out the bouquet. A fly and a striped beetle crawl on the table, amidst sprigs of rosemary and forget-me-not. Other insects have landed on the blossoms themselves. Notice, for example, the dragon fly on the red tulip the delicate blue butterfly on the red carnation below, or, on the left, the tiny snail on the leaf of a budding rose. Both flowers and animals are rendered in breathtaking detail, copied from botanical manuscripts or directly from nature.
Yet, despite its realism, Flowers in a Glass Beaker is a fantasy, since the blossoms it contains bloom at different seasons. Many of them carry symbolic messages: the irises, violets, and white rose, for example, allude to the Virgin Mary, while the butterfly signifies Christ’s Resurrection. In the early 1600s, floral still lifes were popular for their allegorical content, but also for their references to contemporary science and Holland’s lucrative trade in bulbs and seeds. They were sought after by scientists and amateurs alike, and Bosschaert commanded high prices for paintings like this one.
Flowers in a Glass Beaker
c. 1620
Peter Binoit (German, 1590/93-1632/39)
On View
Self-reflection preoccupied early 17th-century Catholics and Protestants alike, and the still-life genre was ideally suited to stimulate such contemplation. Though flowers, especially the fashionable tulip, were treasured as precious, even collectible, objects, they also served symbolic functions. This composed bouquet, enlivened with flying and crawling creatures, contains symbols associated with the brevity of life and spiritual preparation for death.
Read in this way, the fallen sprigs allude to decay and transience, underscored by the fact that the depicted flowers bloom briefly and in different seasons. The snail and fly signify laziness and sin. These negative references are balanced by other motifs that hold the promise of heaven. The iris is a symbol of the Virgin Mary and of hope, and the red carnation customarily refers to Christ’s redemptive sacrifice. The butterfly and dragonfly embody the salvation of the soul, due to their maturation from flightless to winged insects.
Details
- Artist Name: Peter Binoit (German, 1590/93-1632/39)
- Title: Flowers in a Glass Beaker
- Date: c. 1620
- Medium: Oil on copper
- Dimensions: 12-1/4 x 9 in. (31.1 x 22.9 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1973.26.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
Count Camille du Chastel de la Howarderie, 1873, by inheritance to;
Count Albert du Chastel de la Howarderie (1857-1946), to his daughter;
Thérèse du Chastel de la Howarderie (1889-1924), who in 1912 married Marcel, Marquis de Castellane-Esparron (1884-1951), Brussels, by descent to;
Albert de Castellane-Esparron (1924-1991), presumably still in 1960;
[P. de Boer, Switzerland, by 1956 (possibly on consignment from Castellane); consigned to P. de Boer, Amsterdam, 1963; sold 1963/1964 to];
Becker Collection, Dortmund, sold 1973 through;
[G. Cramer, The Hague, to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
Count Albert du Chastel de la Howarderie (1857-1946), to his daughter;
Thérèse du Chastel de la Howarderie (1889-1924), who in 1912 married Marcel, Marquis de Castellane-Esparron (1884-1951), Brussels, by descent to;
Albert de Castellane-Esparron (1924-1991), presumably still in 1960;
[P. de Boer, Switzerland, by 1956 (possibly on consignment from Castellane); consigned to P. de Boer, Amsterdam, 1963; sold 1963/1964 to];
Becker Collection, Dortmund, sold 1973 through;
[G. Cramer, The Hague, to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
Exposition de tableaux et dessins d' anciens maîtres
- La Société Néerlandaise de Bienfaisance à Bruxelles, 1873 to
Moderne van Toen, 1570-1630, Vlaamse schilderkunst en haar invloed
- Laren, North Holland, Singer Museum, 1963-06-15 to 1963-09-01
[on loan]
- Princeton University Art Museum, 1973-10-09 to 1974-07-17
Significant Objects: The Spell of Still Life
- Norton Simon Museum, 2012-07-20 to 2013-01-21
Tulips are in Bloom
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-04-29 to 1993-08
- Exposition de tableaux et dessins d'anciens ma Oetres, 1873, no. 224
- La Société Néerlandaise de Biengaisance à Bruxelles, Exposition de tableaux et dessins d' anciens maîtres, 1873, no. 224 (attr. to Abraham Brueghel)
- Bol, Laurens, The Bosschaert Dynasty, 1960, no. 19, pl. 13 pp. 62, 31, 87
- Boer, P. de, Catalogue of Old Pictures, 1963, no. 3
- Singer Museum, Moderne van Toen, 1570-1630, Vlaamse schilderkunst en haar invloed, 1963, no. 26, col. ill 5 (private collection)
- Fritz, R., Sammlung Becker: I Gemalde, Alter Meister, 1967, no. 55
- Norton Simon Museum, Selected Paintings at the Norton Simon Museum, 1980, p. 50
- R. Karson, Garden Design, 1984, p. 59
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, p. 69
- Gaskell, Ivan, Seventeenth-Century Dutch and Flemish Painting, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, 1990, no. 10 p. 50
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 980 p. 359
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