Lot 2074 Dα

This small-format, finely executed and extremely charming still life with its bouquet of flowers arranged in a glass vase standing on a stone bench can be described as a particularly typical work by the Flemish painter Jan van Kessel the Elder. As Klaus Ertz briefly but aptly puts it in his expertise: "Even without the authentic monogram, there would be no doubt about the attribution of this still life to Jan van Kessel the Elder." Against the undifferentiated dark background, the colours of the individual blossoms come into their own particularly well; moreover, his compositions are unthinkable without the additional depiction of insects, such as the butterflies and dragonflies in our painting, which can be spotted at the edges of the bouquet of flowers. The painting is dated by Klaus Ertz to the years around 1660/1670.