This painting was purchased by Charles IV for his personal collection, but was later transferred to the royal collections. Its facture and composition are similar to those of the works of French painter Michel-Nicolas Micheux (1688-1733), in the vein of an elegantly decorative Rococo style that was, however, about to be displaced by an all-conquering Neoclassicism that swept away all forms of the Baroque.

The work’s pleasant, light-spirited, and beautifully decorative formulation is much more reminiscent of the broad field of flower-painting during the reign of Louis XV (1715-1774) than of the Spanish school of the time in which it was possibly created, during the last decade of Charles III (1759-1788). All in all, this is a well-conceived and skillfully executed work. The excellent pictorial quality and unquestionable effects achieved within such limited dimensions bear witness to the painter’s gifts of observation.

The slightly elongated oval shape of the painting makes this piece (and its companion-painting P01043) quite unusual, a condition underscored by the mix of flowers themselves: roses, tulips, lilies, and carnations, among others, tied by ribbons in brilliant tones of blue. In an exquisite combination of colors and hues, a cool spectrum is brought into harmony with violets and pinks, which, with the brushwork, produces the effect of glints and gleams, shimmering iridescence, and delicate transparencies on the petals. The firm, precise self-assuredness of the drawing is also noteworthy, as is the compendium of small, masterful details. All of this leads one to think that the painting belongs to a mature phase in the artist’s career -the period, perhaps, when he was achieving his first successes in Bilbao, around 1780 or a little later, when he received the commission to paint the port cities of Cantabria, though no exact date can be conclusively determined.

This type of floral creation is characteristic of a time that was not as interested as was the preceding Siglo de Oro in reflecting the ephemerality of the things of life, and therefore burdening all images with a heavy load of symbolism. On the contrary, this painting evidences the moment’s taste for decoration. Not for nothing did many of these floral motifs inspire those who applied enamels or introduced porcelain inserts into fine furniture of the time.

Far from the spectacular showiness indulged in by many of his foreign contemporaries, who prided themselves on their luxuriant groupings, Paret preferred a finely detailed style, handled with simplicity and grace. This work also reflects a tendency to transmit the particular qualities of the elements of the piece, as well as a taste for soft contrasts of light and shadow as a way of strengthening the volumes and creating an atmospheric quality that adds to the verisimilitude of the composition (Text drawn from Luna, J. J.: El Greco to Goya. Masterpieces from the Prado Museum, Museo de Arte de Ponce, 2012, p. 133).