Click here for Full Issue of Fidelio Volume 8, Number 2, Summer 1999 EXHIBITS

Adriaen van de Venne, “God is revealed in the smallest work of his Creation,” 1623.

books. While many of these objects were of a devotional nature, some were natural objects such as flowers and insects, which were pressed between the pages. Observation of Nature It was the discovery of many plant species that had been unknown to the ancients, which inspired Renaissance scholars to observe nature directly, rather than merely relying on such sources as Pliny and the other botanical studies of antiquity. As a result, during the Sixteenth century, the number of plants identified by botanists increase National Gallery of Art, Library six-fold, from about one thousand, to six thousand species. In his Four Books on Human Propor- ‘God Is Revealed in the tion (1528), Albrecht Dürer argues for the importance of observing nature: “But life in nature manifests the Smallest Work of His Creation’ truth of these things. Therefore, observe it diligently; go by it and do not depart hile the chill winds of January ry Northern Renaissance that still-life from nature arbitrarily, imagining to Wstill blustered outside, giving lit- painting was accepted as an appropriate find the better by thyself, for thou tle hint of the spring to come, an exhib- subject for a work of art. Up to that wouldst be misled. For, verily ‘art’ [i.e., it at Washington’s National Gallery of time, “still-lifes” were to be found only knowledge] is embedded in nature, he Art gave hope that the delightful as details of Northern, as well as Italian who can extract it, has it.” forms, hues, and scents of the season of Renaissance paintings. But, inspired by Dürer’s nature studies, which were rebirth could not be too far off. The Fifteenth-century botanical studies, widely copied and emulated, fathered a show, “From Botany to Bouquets: especially those of Leonardo da Vinci new field of highly-accurate and visually Flowers in Northern Art,” an exhibit of and Albrecht Dürer, and by depictions pleasing plant studies. One of his studies 61 works by the greatest Dutch and of flowers and other botanicals as deco- included in the “Botany to Bouquets” Flemish still-life artists of the Sixteenth rative elements in Books of Hours show is “Tuft of Cowslips” (1526) [SEE and Seventeenth centuries, includes (prayer books), the early 1500’s began to inside back cover, this issue], in which watercolors, manuscripts, paintings, see a veritable explosion of still-life Dürer presents the humble primrose so and botanical books, which celebrate flower painting—an interest that was that we almost see it grow before our the beauty of exotic flowers, as well as fed by the discovery, in the New World eyes. discoveries in botany and related scien- and the Near East, of many botanicals tific fields.* The exhibit will remain previously unknown in western Encyclopedia of Florals open until May 31. Europe. This fascination with increasing man’s It was not until the Sixteenth-centu- In fact, one ironic feature of the knowledge of the botanical world, led to coming of age of flower painting is, that the cultivation of extravagant gardens ______this most secular of painting subjects by wealthy burghers and members of *I am indebted to the exhibit catalogue, grew in part out of the most fervent of the nobility. Artists were commissioned “From Botany to Bouquets,” by Arthur K. religious endeavors: the pilgrimages of to draw and paint these gardens, and Wheelock, Jr., the National Gallery of Art’s Curator for Northern Baroque Painting, the pious to the Holy Land. On their this in turn led to the production of the for much of the background material in travels, pilgrims often collected memen- florilegium, a kind of encyclopedia of this review. tos, which they placed in small prayer florals, shown for their beauty alone,

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© 1999 Schiller Institute, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission strictly prohibited. delightful of the early flower paintings is “Still Life with Flowers” (c.1602/04), by de Gheyn II, which was inspired by Clu- sius. For the modern gardener, each of these flowers will be instantly recogniz- able: a huge pink rose, whose size and shape mirror the globe of the vase, pink carnations, tiny violets (which look like today’s “johnny-jump-ups”), and a purple Turk’s cap lily. A window is reflected in the glass vase—a little joke by the artist, who turns reality on its head: Here you must look into the flower vase to see the window, whereas, in “reality,” one must look out the window to see the flowers! At about the same time, certain artists became obsessed with a kind of realism

Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, Trustees for Harvard University that actually excludes metaphor, by Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, “Damask Rose and a Purple-and-Blue Pansy (Heartease),” attempting to imply tangible attributes, probably 1570’s. such as the sweet scents of the flowers, through the introduction of insects, but- and drawn from exotic and rare flowers improvement on nature, through Art. terflies, and even small snails and lizards found in the gardens. The paradox is resolved by the into the composition. This trend is evi- One of the first artists to create a flo- metaphor of the painting itself, wherein dent in a painting by Roelandt Savery, rilegium was Jacques LeMoyne de man—who was himself created by “Flowers in a Roemer” (1603), in which Morgues, a French Huguenot from God—becomes himself a “little creator” the host of beetles and lizards conveys a Dieppe, who is best known for his ren- by means of his art. Embedded in this is menacing quality, while the flowers derings of the people, flora, and fauna of another idea: that man, through his voy- themselves project an air of decadence, Florida (North America), which he ages of exploration and the discovery of as though they were nearly spent—espe- drew during a French expedition of the new lands—each with its own exotic cially the large blue iris, which looks as if mid-1560’s. Two examples of Le Moyne flora and fauna—exerts his will over it were about to expire. de Morgues flower paintings, done in ever-greater portions of the universe. miniature-style, are a “Damask Rose” Flower painters of the 1600’s were Exotic Flora and a “Purple-and-Blue Wild Pansy.” commissioned by botanists to record The city of Middelburg, the capital of specimens for their research. For exam- Zeeland, was the second home of the Man, the ‘Little Creator’ ple, Carolus Clusius, who laid out the Dutch East India Company—which, At about the turn of the century, the rep- famous botanical gar- resentation of flower bouquets arranged den at the University artfully in vases emerged as a genre in its of Leiden in the 1590’s, own right throughout The , engaged the artist , Middelburg, , and Jacques de Gheyn II to Leiden. These early Seventeenth-century portray the bounty of works, by such artists as Jacques de his gardens. In his Gheyn II, Ambrosius Bosschaert the Hortus Botanicus, Clu- Elder, and , are, sius grew many of the in my opinion, the high point of Dutch exotic species he had and Flemish flower painting. For, even discovered on his trav- though the later Seventeenth century is els abroad, including known as the “Golden Age” of flower the tulip, the daffodil, painting, these early works display a and the hyacinth. marvelous quality of refined exuber- One of the most ance—perhaps derived from the mar- riage of rigorous scientific observation and extravagant loveliness. There is a paradox created in these Jacques de Gheyn II, still-lifes, between the glory of God’s “Still Life with creation (the flower), and man’s Flowers,” c. 1602/04. Courtesy of Teresa Heinz (and the late Senator John Heinz)

94 of the type seen in both Italian geous blooms, gathered in the basket and Northern Renaissance fresh from the garden, some of which works—but here, a bouquet of have been selected for the vase. roses, at once sumptuous and Yet, as any gardener would immedi- refined, replaces what would ately recognize, no matter how skilled have been the primary, reli- the grower, these blooms could never gious scene, perhaps an have been gathered during any one sea- Annunciation. son of the year! While the artist is cele- brating the abundance and beauty of ‘The Lightness of Nature God’s Creation, he is also extolling Itself’ man’s freedom to appropriate this boun- With Jan Brueghel the Elder ty for his physical, as well as spiritual (1568-1625), the second son of needs. As Cardinal Borromeo himself the great Dutch painter Peter observed, these painted flowers, seen Brueghel the Elder, we “when winter encumbers and restricts encounter flower painting at everything with ice,” would continue to its zenith. Brueghel had trav- blossom and provide enjoyment, “even elled extensively throughout imagined odor,” long after nature’s own Europe’s artistic centers, flowers had withered and died. including Cologne, Rome, It was this spirit that the Dutch Naples, and Milan, before vis- humanist and poet Constantijn iting the court of Rudolf II in Huyghens, father of the scientist Chris- Prague, one of the great tiaan Huyghens, captured in a poem patrons and collectors of written in 1645, in which an envisioned flower painting. In Milan, he contest between Mother Nature and the met Cardinal Federico Bor- flower painter Daniel Seghers takes

Anonymous lender, in honor of Frank and Janina Perscheck romeo, who would become his place. Here—wonder of wonders!—it is Roeland Savery, “Flowers in a Roemer,” 1603. patron for life. Borromeo con- the artist who wins, for his painted sidered Brueghel’s works to be flowers produce a “fragrance of roses” among the treasures it looted from its “the lightness of nature itself.” so excellent, that it “renders the real one colonies, were many unusual and exotic In the exhibition catalogue, Arthur a shadow.” flora. As a result, the city was renowned K. Wheelock, Jr., the National Gallery’s —Bonnie James for its botanical gardens, the most Curator for Northern important of which was established in Baroque Painting, notes the 1590’s by the famous botanist that Brueghel’s letters to Matthias Lobelius. It was Lobelius’s gar- Cardinal Borromeo pro- den which is supposed to have inspired vide “rare insights into the Adriaen van de Venne’s engraving enti- working method of this tled, “God is revealed in the smallest early Seventeenth-century work of his Creation.” flower specialist. They The “Still Life with Flowers” (1612- indicate not only that he 14) of Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder made trips to distant cities [SEE inside back cover, this issue], Mid- to find rare and unusual delburg’s most famous painter of the blossoms, but also that he period, features a single butterfly waited entire seasons for perched on a pristine white rose, which flowers to grow.” is surrounded by brilliant red, yellow, Brueghel writes that he orange, and purple tulips, anemones, painted flowers from pansies, etc. This, and other works by nature, without benefit of Bosschaert, are notable for their sheer preliminary sketches, so as delight in the beauty of the natural to capture their fleeting world, as it was organized and beauty. An example of his improved by art. A later painting by work, “A Basket of Mixed Bosschaert, “Roses in an Arched Win- Flowers and a Vase of

dow” (1618-1619), displays an echo of Flowers” [SEE inside back Private Collection, Holland Renaissance themes, as the arched win- cover, this issue], delights in Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, “Roses in an Arched dow opens onto an extensive landscape the sheer abundance of gor- Window,” 1618-1619.

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