Still Life with Flowers in a Glass Vase

Roses, tulips, carnations and other blooms rise from a glass vase on a stone ledge, set off against a dark ground with a butterfly hovering among the petals. Painted over several decades around the turn of the eighteenth century, this bouquet shows Rachel Ruysch at the height of her powers — the daughter of a botanist who combined scientific knowledge of plants with a painterly grace that made her the most celebrated flower painter of her era, court painter to the Elector Palatine. The precise botanical detail, the silky handling of petals and the balanced, airy composition explain why her flower pieces were prized across Europe.