Who painted A vase of flowers?

A vase of flowers was painted by Daniel Seghers in 1640.

Where can I see A vase of flowers?

A vase of flowers is held by Fitzwilliam Museum.

What movement is A vase of flowers?

A vase of flowers is associated with Flemish Baroque painting.

A vase of flowers by Daniel Seghers (1640)

About this work

Overview

It is held in the Fitzwilliam Museum at the University of Cambridge, accessioned under the number PD.

A Vase of Flowers is a floral painting by the Flemish artist Daniel Seghers, dated to 1640. Executed in oil on copper, the work measures 48.2 cm in height and 35.5 cm in width. It is held in the Fitzwilliam Museum at the University of Cambridge, accessioned under the number PD.42-1975. The painting is a significant example of the seventeenth-century floral still life, demonstrating the artist's precise handling of the genre and his association with the Society of Jesus, indicated by an inscription on the work.

Subject & Meaning

The composition centers on a clear glass vase containing a dense, symmetrical bouquet of flowers. The arrangement includes a striped tulip, pink, white, and deep red roses, a brownish iris, and smaller blue and white blossoms. Two butterflies, identified as a cabbage white and a red admiral, hover near the upper edges of the arrangement. The vase rests on a flat brown ledge and reveals water and submerged stems inside. The vivid warm tones of pink, orange, and red contrast against cool blues and whites, all set against a nearly black background. In the context of seventeenth-century Flemish painting, such floral motifs and the inclusion of butterflies often carried vanitas symbolism, alluding to the transience of life and the brevity of earthly beauty.

Technique & Style

Seghers executed the work in oil on a copper support, a medium that facilitates the smooth, polished surface finish visible in the painting. The brushwork is precise and careful, allowing for meticulous attention to the translucent quality of petals, the reflective properties of the glass vase, and the delicate wings of the butterflies. Light falls from the upper left, creating bright highlights on petals and the glass surface while casting deep shadows into the dark surround. The composition is vertical and symmetrical, with the flowers spreading outward from a central axis, a formal quality that emphasizes structure and balance.

History & Provenance

The painting is inscribed with a monogram and the letters DS Soctis. Jesu. at the bottom left, referencing Seghers's membership in the Society of Jesus. The work was owned by Major the Hon. Henry Rogers Broughton, Second Lord Fairhaven. Upon his death, it was bequeathed to the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1973 and formally received into the collection in 1975, receiving the accession number PD.42-1975.

Context

Daniel Seghers was a Jesuit brother who specialized in floral paintings, a genre at which he excelled during the first half of the seventeenth century. While the Fitzwilliam painting is dated 1640, scholarship indicates that Seghers was active in the genre from roughly 1610 until 1661. A separate documented work, signed and dated 1635 and noted as the oldest extant signed and dated painting by Seghers, resides in the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio, establishing his practice of signing and dating his works early in his career and providing context for his development of the floral still life.