Roses, Convolvulus, Poppies and Other Flowers in an Urn on a Stone Ledge

Rachel Ruysch (Dutch, 1664-1750)
Oil on canvas

Far more than scientifically accurate descriptions of diverse flora, Rachel Ruysch''''s flower pieces are exuberant celebrations of color, texture, and form. This dynamic, pyramid-shaped composition derives much of its energy from its asymmetrical arrangement of the blossoms, further accentuated by their wildly curving stems and dramatically spot-lit central section. The dark background reveals a hint of architecture, demonstrating Ruysch''''s interest in exploring this new trend among flower painters in Amsterdam.

This example is typical of Ruysch''''s early work made in the late 1680s. Ambitious in scope and large in scale, it stresses variety. Instead of just a few common flowers, Ruysch depicts numerous types, many of which are rare; the blossoms range in hue from delicate shades of lavender to vivid red-orange; their shapes are equally diverse; and some have yet to bloom, while others are past their prime. Ruysch''''s control of detail is so precise that viewers can virtually count the individual pollen grains inside each open flower. While this painting contains several elements that would also be found in the popular seventeenth-century Dutch picture type known as a vanitas, scholars doubt that this was Ruysch''''s intention. A true vanitas painting stresses the brevity of earthly life and the inevitability of death and decay, through such objects as a snuffed-out candle or a worm-eaten fruit. When Ruysch paints insects alighting on the flowers or leaves that are beginning to turn brown, they seem more like a straightforward depiction of reality rather than a moralizing statement on death.