Study of a Tulip (Ammirael Winckel)
1645
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
Artist
Pieter Holsteyn II
Pieter Holsteyn II (1614–1673) was a Dutch artist, born in Haarlem.
See the richer artist page1645
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Study of a Tulip (Ammirael Winckel) is a 1645 by Pieter Holsteyn II, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a single tulip, petals striped red and white, painted on a plain background. This tulip was worth a fortune—more than a house in Amsterdam. The stripes came from a virus, but buyers thought they were rare beauty. Artists like Holsteyn made these images to help growers sell bulbs during "tulip mania," a wild time when prices soared and then crashed. If you like this, look up *The Cleveland Museum of Art* for more quiet, precise botanical studies.
This image of a tulip was made as part of a tulip book used as a grower’s marketing tool during the so-called tulip mania, a speculative bubble in 17th-century Holland when ten tulip bulbs could cost more than a stately Amsterdam canal house. The striations on the tulip, which were caused by a virus in the bulb, made it especially valuable. Pieter Holsteyn II was one of many artists in the Netherlands at the time who specialized in botanical illustration. This tulip's Dutch name, inscribed on the sheet, translates to "Admiral Winckel." Winckel was the family name of one of the largest growers…
In 17th-century Holland, some tulip bulbs were as expensive as a stately Amsterdam canal house!
Read the full account in the museum source.
Pieter Holsteyn II (1614–1673) was a Dutch artist, born in Haarlem.
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