Lot 2061 Dα

This grisaille can be counted among the finest of the few known works by the Antwerp flower painter Andries Bosmann. One reason for the scarcity of his paintings may be the fact that Bosman was only enrolled at the Antwerp Guild of St Luke for one year before deciding to become a priest. He became chaplain to the Bishop of Ghent in 1641, in 1657 canon of St. James' Church in Antwerp, and from 1664 he went to Rome. Secondly, his flower paintings are often confused with those of his teacher Daniel Seghers and his other pupils. Seghers (1590-1661) was the formative stylistic model for Bosman. As a priest and "Jesuit of Antwerp", Daniel Seghers was probably also a role model for Bosmann's theological career.



This well-preserved and very finely executed painting was created in Brussels in 1654. Bosmann refers to himself as "presbi" (presbyter). A flower painting with Anna Selbdritt, also painted by him in Brussels, is housed in the Prado Museum, Madrid (inv. no. 1370). Compositionally closely related is also his grisaille painting with the Virgin and Child in a Wreath of Flowers, which was sold on the art market in 2012 as a work by Jan van Kessel, another pupil of Seghers (Dorotheum, Vienna, auction 17th October 2012, lot 578).