0017

Set in a hilly landscape with antique temple architecture is a marble table covered with a truly elaborate yet balanced arrangement. A silver plate and a gold relief jug with handle provide stability in terms of content and form in the abundance of richly moving flower and fruit forms. Additionally, ripe grapes and a broken melon are depicted. Peonies, tulips in various patterns, carnations, roses and irises, whose beauty is about to fade, are presented almost solemnly and convey three-dimensionality. The skilfully used lights emphasise the material charms of the reflecting metals, the brocade fabric and the carefully designed floral splendour to a high degree. Such intricate and finely painted surface textures affirm Abraham Brueghel's masterful handling. Each floral piece is also a vanitas symbol, as indicated by the individual blossoms that have already fallen out of the bouquet, as well as the partly overripe grapes and citrus fruit.
The compositional structure, dramatic illumination and spirited brushwork are found several times in the master's oeuvre, as in "Still Life with Watermelon and Roses in Landscape", "Still Life of Flowers and Fruit in Front of Cypresses" or "Flowers and Fruit" (Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, inv. no. 1096).