Still Life with Flowers

Balthasar van der Ast (signed by artist), c. 1625 - c. 1630

A magnificent bouquet of tulips, roses, iris, columbine and gillyflowers is set in a ribbed glass vase. The artist first made a detailed drawing on the prepared panel before beginning to paint. In the intervening centuries, some of the pigments, primarily the lighter colours, have become transparent, allowing the underdrawing to show through.

  • Artwork typepainting
  • Object numberSK-A-2103
  • Dimensionssupport: height 59 cm x width 43 cm, frame: height 75.8 cm x width 59.8 cm
  • Physical characteristicsoil on panel

Identification

  • Title(s)

    Still Life with Flowers

  • Object type

  • Object number

    SK-A-2103

  • Description

    Bloemstilleven. In een glazen fles een boeket met tulpen, rozen, anjelieren, irissen, koekoeksbloemen en akeleien. Op het tafelblad een hagedis, een rups en enige schelpen.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    signature, bottom left: ‘. B.vander.Ast ..’

  • Part of catalogue

Creation

  • Creation

    painter: Balthasar van der Ast (signed by artist)

  • Dating

    c. 1625 - c. 1630

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    oil on panel

  • Dimensions

    • support: height 59 cm x width 43 cm
    • frame: height 75.8 cm x width 59.8 cm

This work is about

  • Subject

Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    A.A. des Tombe Bequest, The Hague

  • Acquisition

    bequest 1903

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    ...; ? collection the Van Citters family;{Handwritten catalogue of the Des Tombe collection, n.d., HUA, PA 26, Des Tombe archive 26, no. 108: ‘13 B. van der Ast, Bloemen in eene vaas met schelpen en een hagedis, paneel afkomstig als boven’ (from the Van Citters family); see also the main entry.} by descent to Arnoldus Andries des Tombe (1818-1902), The Hague; by whom bequeathed to the museum, 1903; on loan to the Noordbrabants Museum, ’s-Hertogenbosch, 2002-11

Documentation

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Balthasar van der Ast

Still Life with Flowers

c. 1625 - c. 1630

Inscriptions

  • signature, bottom left:. B.vander.Ast ..

Technical notes

The support is a single oak panel with a vertical grain. The panel is covered with a calcium carbonate ground and primed with a yellow ochre layer that shows through the paint layers. Infrared reflectography revealed a detailed underdrawing, probably drawn with a pen, on top of the imprimatura (fig. a ondertitel). While most of the flowers were reserved in the background, some of them were painted over it. The paint was applied in thin layers. (The painting was examined in a climate box.)

Scientific examination and reports

  • infrared reflectography: M. Wolters, RKD, 2 november 1998
  • paint samples: A. Wallert, RMA, nos. R 45/1-7, 18 december 1998
  • technical report: G. Tauber, RMA, 3 maart 2003

Literature scientific examination and reports

Wallert et al. in Amsterdam 1999, pp. 56-59

Condition

Fair. The paint surface is somewhat abraded and the grain of the wood shows through the paint layers. The paint has become transparent, especially in the light-coloured flowers.

Provenance

...; ? collection the Van Citters family;1Handwritten catalogue of the Des Tombe collection, n.d., HUA, PA 26, Des Tombe archive 26, no. 108: ‘13 B. van der Ast, Bloemen in eene vaas met schelpen en een hagedis, paneel afkomstig als boven’ (from the Van Citters family); see also the main entry. by descent to Arnoldus Andries des Tombe (1818-1902), The Hague; by whom bequeathed to the museum, 1903; on loan to the Noordbrabants Museum, ’s-Hertogenbosch, 2002-11

Object number: SK-A-2103

Credit line: A.A. des Tombe Bequest, The Hague

Context

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The artist

Biography

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Entry

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Literature

Bol 1960, p. 70, no. 10, with earlier literature; Gemar-Koeltzsch 1995, II, p. 53, no. 8/19; Böhmer in Aachen-Gotha 2016, pp. 161-63, no. 23; Wallert 2016, p. 92

Collection catalogues

1903, pp. 34-35, no. 387; 1934, p. 32, no. 387; 1960, p. 23, no. 387; 1976, p. 90, no. A 2103; 2007, no. 9

Citation

G. Wuestman, 2007, 'Balthasar van der Ast, Still Life with Flowers, c. 1625 - c. 1630', in J. Bikker (ed.), Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200108148

(accessed 28 oktober 2026 19:51:22 UTC+0).

Figures

  • Schitterend

Footnotes

  • 1Handwritten catalogue of the Des Tombe collection, n.d., HUA, PA 26, Des Tombe archive 26, no. 108: ‘13 B. van der Ast, Bloemen in eene vaas met schelpen en een hagedis, paneel afkomstig als boven’ (from the Van Citters family); see also the main entry.