Artwork
Still Life with Iris
Still Life with Iris is an oil painting by the Baroque artist Peter Binoit. It dates from 1623 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower right in monogram: PB .1623.
About this work
In 1623, a German painter working in Frankfurt pressed oil onto a copper plate no larger than a sheet of letter paper and fixed a bouquet of iris in pigment. Peter Binoit's Still Life with Iris now sits in the National Gallery of Art as half of a pendant pair, matched with a companion panel of tulips. The smooth copper lets every petal and vein register with jeweled precision.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a still-life arrangement centered on an iris, accompanied by a tulip, a narcissus, forget-me-nots, and a snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis).
The painting depicts a still-life arrangement centered on an iris, accompanied by a tulip, a narcissus, forget-me-nots, and a snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis). A beetle, a butterfly, and a caterpillar are also present among the flowers. These elements, a selection of blossoms and insects, are characteristic of early 17th-century floral still lifes.
The sources identify the depicted subjects but do not provide an explicit iconographic interpretation for this specific work.
History & Provenance
Peter Binoit painted Still Life with Iris in 1623, as indicated by the work's inscription and Wikidata records. The painting first appears in the modern historical record in the collection of Claus Kramer in Küsnacht, Switzerland, who lent it to a 1971 exhibition in Zurich. It was subsequently sold at Christie's, London, on 13 December 2000 (lot 9, alongside another work).
Purchased through the dealer Richard Green, the painting entered the collection of Robert H. (1928–2009) and Clarice Smith of Arlington, Virginia. Following Robert Smith's death, it passed by inheritance to Clarice Smith, who donated it to the National Gallery of Art in 2012. No evidence of a commission exists, and the provenance is complete from 1971 onward.
Overview
Peter Binoit's "Still Life with Iris," an oil on copper painting from 1623, represents an early example of independent still-life art in Germany. This small work is one of a pair, its companion panel depicting tulips. Binoit, active in Frankfurt and Hanau, was a significant figure in the first generation of artists dedicated to this genre, which was then emerging as a distinct category in Northern European art during the early 17th century.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil on a copper support, the painting exhibits a precise and detailed rendering. The smooth, non-absorbent surface of the copper allowed Binoit to build up transparent glazes, creating an almost enamel-like finish. This technique enabled the artist to meticulously capture the delicate textures of petals and the sharp contours of leaves, characteristic of his dense descriptive style often set against dark backgrounds.
Context
Born around 1590 into a French Protestant family in Cologne, Peter Binoit became a notable still-life painter in early 17th-century Germany. He received his training in Hanau from Daniel Soreau, working alongside Sebastian Stoskopff. Binoit primarily operated in Frankfurt and Hanau during the 1610s and 1620s, producing a range of floral, game, and table-top still lifes, thereby contributing to the establishment of this genre north of the Alps.
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