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All our images can be downloaded in high resolution from our website for non-commercial use (research/study, educational purposes, personal blogs and social media).
Would you like to use our images in a publication? Please mention our credit line: "Mauritshuis, The Hague."
Commercial use
Would you like to use our images for commercial purposes? We would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact our marketing department at images@mauritshuis.nl.
All our images can be downloaded in high resolution from our website for non-commercial use (research/study, educational purposes, personal blogs and social media).
Would you like to use our images in a publication? Please mention our credit line: "Mauritshuis, The Hague."
Commercial use
Would you like to use our images for commercial purposes? We would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact our marketing department at images@mauritshuis.nl.
All our images can be downloaded in high resolution from our website for non-commercial use (research/study, educational purposes, personal blogs and social media).
Would you like to use our images in a publication? Please mention our credit line: "Mauritshuis, The Hague."
Commercial use
Would you like to use our images for commercial purposes? We would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact our marketing department at images@mauritshuis.nl.
All our images can be downloaded in high resolution from our website for non-commercial use (research/study, educational purposes, personal blogs and social media).
Would you like to use our images in a publication? Please mention our credit line: "Mauritshuis, The Hague."
Commercial use
Would you like to use our images for commercial purposes? We would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact our marketing department at images@mauritshuis.nl.
Willem van Aelst Flower Still Life with a Timepiece
1663
On view in Room 16
Van Aelst’s flower still-lifes are different to those of his predecessors. Rather than painting symmetrical bouquets, he arranged them along a diagonal line. Moreover, he did not light them evenly, opting instead for strong contrasts of light and dark. This lends tension and dynamism to his bouquets.
This profuse flower painting was intended as a showpiece. The flowers stand in a costly silver vase, and a gold watch lies beside them. Van Aelst, who had lived in Italy, signed the work with his Italian name.
Willem van Aelst (Delft 1627 - after 1683 Amsterdam)
Title
Flower Still Life with a Timepiece
Dated
1663
Object name
painting
Inventory number
2
On view in
Room 16
Material and technical details
Technique
oil
Material
canvas
Dimensions
62.5 x 49 cm
Inscriptions
Signed and dated
lower left: Guill.mo van Aelst. 1663.
Provenance
The Het Loo Palace, Apeldoorn, 1757; Prince William V, The Hague, until 1795; confiscated by the French, transferred to the Muséum Central des Arts/Musée Napoléon (Musée du Louvre), Paris, 1795-1815; Royal Picture Gallery, housed in the Prince William V Gallery, The Hague, 1816; transferred to the Mauritshuis, 1822
Bluebottle and butterfly
The bluebottle is silhouetted against the white flower of the snowball tree. Flies symbolise the brevity of life. The downy cabbage white, with its transformation from caterpillar to butterfly, refers to rebirth.
