Still-Life with Flowers with a Garland of Fruit and Flowers
1645 · Private collection
still-lifeIn this unusual painting, the artist has represented an octagonal framed painting of a still-life with flowers within a rustic garland of fruit and flowers. The picture is a witty trompe-l'oeil that delights the viewer with its play on the idea of the "imitation of nature", an idea that in the 17th century constituted the very raison d'etre of still-life painting. In the well-known story of the ancient painter Zeuxis - whose painted grapes were so realistic that birds tried to eat them - the pictorial values of illusionism and naturalism were linked together from the very beginnings of the genre in classical antiquity.
