Glass Vase with Flowers and Fruit

A large glass vase on a cracked grey hardstone ledge displays a vibrant profusion of cultivated and field flowers together with branches of stone fruit and berries — about twenty species of flowers, six different fruits and sixteen distinct insects in all. Jan Davidsz. de Heem made this sumptuous arrangement in the early 1670s, at the height of his powers, combining plants from different seasons into a fantastical bouquet and animating it with small narratives as insects roam through nearly every section; he even represented some blossoms slightly past their prime to reinforce the truth of the rendering. The diversity of the bouquet carries the genre’s oldest meaning — the variety and richness of God’s creation — together with the reminder of transience. The painting is held in the J. Paul Getty Museum.