BRUEGHEL, Jan the Elder
(b. ca. 1568, Brussel, d. 1625, Antwerpen)

Bouquet of Flowers

1609-15
Oil on oak, 64 x 59 cm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

This flower painting results from, and pays tribute to, the Age of Exploration, which permitted, for the first time, species to be brought back from the Near and Far East, the New World, and Africa. Like a blossoming globe, Brueghel's panel maps out discovery in terms of botany. Forty-four flowers in the ceramic container, and five in the wreath were identified.