''Flowers in a glass vase on a partly draped stone ledge'' is a circa 1667 floral painting by

Nicolaes van Verendael Nicolaes van Verendael or Nicolaes van Veerendael (1640 in Antwerp – 1691 in Antwerp) was a Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Du ...

in the collection of the

Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum The Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum is an art museum in Aachen, Germany. Founded in 1877, its collection includes works by Aelbrecht Bouts, Joos van Cleve, Anthony van Dyck, Otto Dix and Max Beckmann. History The ' (Aachen museum association) was creat ...

Early history and creation

Nicolaes van Verendael - Garland surrounding the Virgin Mary

Nicolaes van Verendael was a respected flower painter in Antwerp who worked with

Jan Davidsz. de Heem Jan Davidsz. de Heem or in-full ''Jan Davidszoon de Heem'', also called ''Johannes de Heem'' or ''Johannes van Antwerpen'' or ''Jan Davidsz de Hem'' (c. 17 April 1606 in Utrecht – before 26 April 1684 in Antwerp), was a still life painter wh ...

, among others. The early provenance of this painting is unknown but it can be dated based on other works by Van Verendael, such as his garland painting in the

Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It migh ...

which was long attributed to

Jan Brueghel the Elder Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; 1568 – 13 January 1625) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. He was the son of the eminent Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A close friend and frequent collaborato ...

, who began floral painting in Antwerp a half-century beforehand.

Description and interpretation

This painting dates to the period in Antwerp when hothouses became popular among the nobility and patrons ordered paintings to record their personal hothouse triumphs. Not all of the blooms would have bloomed at the same time, and the painting was meant more for decoration than for botanical accuracy. The work shows the following flower species: Rosa alba,

Tropaeolum majus ''Tropaeolum majus'', the garden nasturtium, nasturtium, Indian cress or monks cress, is a species of flowering plant in the family Tropaeolaceae, originating in the Andes from Bolivia north to Colombia. An easily-grown annual or short-lived pere ...

, Hepatica nobilis,

rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native plant, native to the Mediterranean Region, Mediterranean region. Until 2017, it was kn ...

Tulipa Tulips (''Tulipa'') are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm ...

Delphinium ''Delphinium'' is a genus of about 300 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family (biology), family Ranunculaceae, native plant, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. Th ...

Aquilegia ''Aquilegia'' (common names: granny's bonnet, columbine) is a genus of about 60–70 species of perennial plants that are found in meadows, woodlands, and at higher altitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere, known for the spurred petals Pu ...

Punica granatum The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean region. It was introduc ...

Rosa × centifolia ''Rosa'' × ''centifolia'' (lit. hundred leaved rose; syn. ''R. gallica'' var. ''centifolia'' (L.) Regel), the Provence rose, cabbage rose or Rose de Mai, is a Hybrid (biology), hybrid rose developed by Netherlands, Dutch breeders in the period ...

Later history and influence

This painting was stored for safe-keeping during WWII in the

Albrechtsburg The Albrechtsburg is a Late Gothic and early Renaissance castle erected from 1471 till about 1495. It is located in the town centre of Meissen in the German state of Saxony. It is situated on a hill above the river Elbe, adjacent to the Meissen ...

Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...

, from whence it was found and taken by marauding Soviet troops in 1945. Somehow it ended up in the possession of a German citizen who later migrated to Canada and it appeared on the art market in the 1970s, whereupon it was returned to the museum after 70 years.After 70 years in exile Nicolaes van Verendael’s Flower Still Life returns to the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum in Aachen
article 4 March 2015 on codart

References

{Dead link, date=March 2022 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes (in German) Paintings in North Rhine-Westphalia 1660s paintings Flower paintings Looting