A Stone Cartouche with a Garland of Flowers
Daniël Seghers
1653-1656
These flowers glow in the colours blue, yellow (originally a bright, luminous yellow), red, pink and white; a combination typical of Flemish flower painting. It would be natural to assume that Seghers used the flowers’ natural foliage to make up his garland. However, this is not the case. All the greenery comes from plants that one does not immediately associate with the fragrant, summery elegance of flowers: thistles, holly, brambles and perhaps an artichoke, too. Foliage and stems full of thorns. Of course this offers a contrast to the soft ornamentation of the stone cartouche, but this was presumably not the only reason for this choice, which seems very deliberate. Perhaps the thorny leaves were a reference to the crown of thorns given to Jesus prior to his crucifixion; the artist’s contemporaries would certainly have been familiar with such symbolism.
SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen · Image: SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Public domain · Text: SMK – National Gallery of Denmark (text: Eva de la Fuente Pedersen), CC0