Baroque Art Analysis

Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568 Brussel - 1625 Antwerp)

Flowers in a Wooden Vessel (1606-1607)

Background:

    Jan Brueghel the Elder was a Flemish painter known for his velvet-like rich colors and textures. Brueghel came from a relatively well-known Netherlandish family. His father, Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-1569), was a painter during the Northern Renaissance. However, Jan's maternal grandmother, Mayken Verhulst, taught him how to paint. With these skills, he went to Rome and discovered the artwork that inspired his own. The creator, Paulus Bril (1554-1626), had mastered small-scale, brightly colored, and finely detailed paintings.

    The inspiration is evident in Flowers in a Wooden Vessel, where the brightness and detail are delicate and effortless but immeasurable. Brueghel desperately wanted to create art that represented God's grand work, highlighting the intricacies of his creation. Brueghel has been heralded as one of the great pioneers of Netherlandish flower pieces. He carries a lust for life, admiring each flower with every brush stroke. Their stems all have a stance and shape of their own, flowers lapping over flowers, each one fighting for the spotlight in this fictional still-life.

Flowers in a Wooden Vessel (1606-1607 Antwerp) By Jan Brueghel the Elder

Analysis:

    Fictional? Wait, then, what was Brueghel using for reference? Are the flowers in the painting a species that exists, or is it entirely made up? At the time of the creation, Jan Brueghel lived in Antwerp but served Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabella as their court painter. I imagine Brueghel being a traveler while working for the southern Netherlands's regent. Perhaps he picked these flowers on his journeys, pressing them between notebook pages for later referencing.

    The immediate focal point is in the center, where the lone pink rose is surrounded by a burst of smaller, more delicate flowers surrounding it. The brightness of the center draws you up and around the edges of the painting. The bend in their stems guides the viewer's eye downward to where pieces of the bouquet lay on the table. Looking closely, you can see the insects blending in with the fallen foliage, the floral arrangement now serving as sustenance. Behind the flowers in the light are ones shrouded in darkness, providing a feeling of depth to the image. Their shapes find slivers of light to peek from the darkness, providing a visual cue to look deeper, past the immediate focal point.

    The bouquet is spread out nicely in the wooden vessel, allowing multiple flowers to be seen, and the meticulous arrangement of each flower is in harmony with the others. Throughout the painting, forms fold and twist, showing the true unruly nature of flowers and showcasing the many imperfections they can have. Some petals droop and others begin to shrivel.

    The Baroque period is my favorite because I am fascinated by how the subject matter is brought to life. Unlike previous periods, the drama, theatrics, and boundless use of lighting capture a moment that resonates with a more profound sense of focus and detail.

Resources:

De Clippel, Karolien, and David van der Linden. “The Genesis of the Netherlandish Flower Piece: Jan             Brueghel, Ambrosius Bosschaert and Middelburg.” Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the                     History of Art, vol. 38, no. 1/2, 2015, pp. 73–86. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26382420.             Accessed 1 July 2024.

“Flowers in a Wooden Vessel.” Kunsthistorisches Museum, www.khm.at/en/objectdb/detail/351/. Accessed 30 June 2024.

“Jan Brueghel the Elder.” Artist Info, www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.3626.html. Accessed 30 June             2024.