On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P02877
- Author
- Hamen y León, Juan van der (Spanish)
- Title
- Offering to Flora
- Chronology
- 1627
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 216 cm x 140 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- No
- Entrance
- LEGADO
- Procedence
- Legacy of the Count of la Cimera, Count of Vilches, 1944
A lady seated in a garden is handed
a basket of roses by a boy. The
profusion of flowers around her and
the crown on her head, as well as
her location in a courtly garden
with a statue in the background,
identify the painting as an
allegory of the goddess,
Flora.
This work is related to a series of
similar compositions made by van
der Hamen during the sixteen
twenties. Some of these are
allegories of the different seasons
or narrations of mythological
scenes, making him more that a mere
still-life painter. His capacity to
render figures is revealed in this
painting, as is his compositional
capacity, visible in the
perspective of the hedges. All of
these characteristics round out his
well-known meticulousness when
painting flowers, which can be seen
in the marvelous group in the
foreground.
This work, which was present in the
collection of the Count of Solre in
1638, exemplifies a kind of
painting highly coveted at that
time by aristocrats in Madrid,
making van der Hamen one of the
most notable artists at the court
of Felipe IV.
