Updated 10 September 2024
Currently not on display
Currently not on display
Garland of Flowers with Madonna and Child
| Date | First half of the 17th century |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | oil on panel |
| Size（cm） | 77 x 53.5 |
| Inscriptions | Signed lower right on slab: Daniel Seghers. SOCtis / JESU; Brand of Antwerp on back of panel |
| Credit Line | Purchased |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.1981-0003 |
Still-lifes became one of the important genres of paintings during the 17th century in Europe. Works that focused on flowers enjoyed great success amidst this trend, and a large number of artists in the Netherlands created images that take flowers as their subject. Many of these works represent an escape from religious subjects by artists in Holland, recently independent from the Catholic bastion of Spain. At the same time, the painters in Catholic Flanders combined this new genre with religious themes to create highly decorative religious works adorned with still-life elements. As a result, a large number of works were created in which a religious theme was surrounded by a garland of flowers. Depictions of the Madonna and Child constitute the majority of the religious elements of these works. The garlands of flowers are thought to have represented flower offerings to the Madonna and Child, at the same time that they were symbols of the admonitory theme of Vanitas. In this work the flowers were painted by Daniel Seghers while the Madonna and Child were painted by Cornelis Schut. This entrusting of the different elements to separate artists was a standard practice, and while occasionally the religious element was entrusted to a master painter such as Rubens, in general, the flowers were the central theme of the work and hence these works must be primarily considered as flower paintings.(Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 30)
Provenance
J. V. Novák, Prague, 1899; Galerie Nathan, Zürich; Purchased by the NMWA, 1981.
Exhibition History
- 1990
- The Silent Dialogue: Still Life in the West and Japan, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, 21 April 1990 - 10 June 1990, cat. no.I-1, repr.
- 1996
- The Crossing Visions: European and Modern Japanese Art from the Collections of The National Museum of Western Art & The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 20 July 1996 - 8 September 1996, cat. no. 62
- 2015
- NO MUSEUM, NO LIFE?: Art-Museum Encyclopedia to Come: From the Collections of the National Museums of Art, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 16 June 2015 - 13 September 2015, cat. no. E-43
Bibliography
- 1843
- Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Kunstwerk und Künstler in Deutschland. vol. 1 (Kunstwerke und Künstler in Erzgebirge und in Franken), Leipzig, 1843, p. 143.
- 1857
- Katalog der gräflich von Schönborn'schen Bilder-Galerie zu Pommersfelden. Würzburg, 1857, no. 277.
- 1899
- Frimmel, Theodor von. Galerie Jos. V. Novák in Prag. Prague, 1899, pp. 47-48, no. 78, repr.
- 1924
- Siret, Adolphe. Dictionnaire historique et raisonné des peintres de toutes les écoles. vol. 2, Berlin, 1924, p. 431.
- 1983
- Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1983 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 20, repr.
- 1983
- Annual Bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 16 (1981), 1983, Kofuku, Akira. On the New Acquisitions 1981. pp. 7-8, Catalogue of the New Acquisitions. pp. 16-18, repr.
- 1985
- Hairs, Marie-Louise. The Flemish Flower Painters in the XVIIth Century. Bruxelles, 1985, p. 492.
- 1989
- Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1989 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 22, repr.
- 1990
- Catalogue of painting acquisitions: 1979-1989. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1990, pp. 63-64, repr.
- 1990
- The Silent Dialogue: Still Life in the West and Japan (exh. cat.). Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, ed. [Shizuoka], Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, 1990, pp. 28, 200, cat. no. 1-1, col. repr.
- 1991
- Kobayashi-Sato, Yoriko. Catalogue of Dutch and Flemish Paintings in Japan II. Annual Report Bridgestone Museum of Art & Ishibashi Museum of Art. no. 38 (1989), 1991, pp. 29-30, no. 39, repr.
- 2006
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 30, col. repr.
- 2009
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 30, col. repr.
- 2013
- Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 40, col. repr.
- 2018
- Kofuku, Akira. Catalogue of Dutch and Flemish Paintings, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. [Tokyo], The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; The Western Art Foundation, 2018, pp. 72-74, no. 18, col. repr.