Still Life with Flowers, Artichokes, Cherries and Glassware

1627 · Private collection

still-life

The main subject, a large glass vase of flowers, is accompanied by a smaller glass vase with pink roses on the uppermost surface. The larger vase of flowers presides over two artichoke heads and their leaves, the contrast between these two faces of Nature being intentional; the beauty of the flowers is enhanced by the presence of the more commonplace green vegetable below them, and the senses of sight and smell are pitted against the sense of taste. Van der Hamen has given the same painterly attention to all of the motifs, however, drawing and modelling the leaves of the artichokes with as much attention to detail as the blooms themselves.

About the Artist

Juan van der Hamen

1596 – 1631

Juan van der Hamen y Leon was the son of a Flemish painter of still-life, Jan van der Hamen, and a Spanish mother. He was a major painter of 'bodegon' still-life and genre in a style still markedly Flemish. He was also the most important still-life painter at court in the early reign of Philip IV and a pioneer in the field of flower painting. Van der Hamen probably began painting floral arrangements in response to the flower pieces of Flemish artists, such as Jan "Velvet" Brueghel, who were regarded as exemplary masters in the field and whose works were much sought after in Spain. His Cook (c.1630, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum) is curiously like an Aertsen or a Beuckelaer, though he presumably never saw one. Other works are in Brussels, Cleveland, Ohio, Houston, Texas, Madrid, Washington and Williamstown, Mass.

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