HEEM, Cornelis de
(b. 1631, Leiden, d. 1695, Antwerpen)

Flower Still-Life

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Oil on canvas, 53 x 42,5 cm
Národní Galerie, Prague

With the emancipation of the still-life in the first decades of the 17th century, flowers too became 'picturesque' and worthy of figuring as the subject of painting. Previously appearing as single blooms or as a small arrangement in a vase, and bearing an allegorical or theological significance in the context of an historical or religious scene, they now fill the pictorial space.