DANIEL SEGHERS (1590 – 1661) FLOWER GARLAND Signed and dated: “Daniel Segers. Soc Jesus Fecit 1643” 132 x 99 cm Daniel Seghers (1590 – 1661) was a Flemish Jesuit brother and painter who specialized in flower still lifes. He is particularly well known for his contributions to the genre of "flower garland" painting. His paintings were collected enthusiastically by aristocratic patrons and he had numerous followers and imitators. After his ordination in 1625 Seghers left for Rome where he stayed for two years. In Rome, Seghers had the opportunity to work on projects with the leading painters: he collaborated with Nicolas Poussin on a few religious paintings, while for Cardinal Ludovisi, Seghers painted a flower garland around an oval cartouche filled with putti by the hand of the Italian painter Domenichino. Seghers returned to his native city in 1627 where he continued to work as a painter for the remainder of this life. It is not easy to establish a chronology for Seghers' paintings since he only dated his works in the period 1635-1651. Possibly there was a stylistic development in his flower garlands from the initial almost uniform garlands towards garlands composed of three or four groups of flowers. Stylistically, there is clearly in his early work a recognisable influence of Jan Brueghel I. From 1630 on, Seghers strived for a livelier painting of flowers in arrangements that look more natural. His flowers light up against a dark background and have a sculptural character. Like his master Brueghel, Seghers used flowers and plants that grew in his home country and in particular cultivated garden flowers and he did not respect the blooming seasons of the flowers he painted together. A majority of Seghers' work is in a distinctively Flemish genre, which is referred to as 'garland paintings'. Garland paintings are a special type of still life developed in Antwerp by Seghers' master Jan Brueghel the Elder in collaboration with the Italian cardinal Federico Borromeo at the beginning of the 17th century Garland paintings were usually collaborations between a still life and a figure painter, our painting its dated 1643, probably the best period of Seghers flower garlands, and almost unique because has not the central scene, its just been prepare for a collaboration, but never made. Seghers himself generally only painted the flowers—frequently locally-grown roses and tulips that are just about to bloom—and the central subject was filled in later by another artist. This spirit of artistic collaboration, which was seen in the earliest flower garland paintings by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens, is, in fact, a notable quality of Flemish painting in 17th-century Antwerp. .