Flower Still-Life
by AST, Balthasar van der, Oil on canvas, 129 x 102 cm
This flower still-life depicts a crown imperial lily, tulips, irises, roses, carnations, aquilegia, fritillaries and other flowers in a sculpted urn, with seashells on a stone ledge, a lizard, a caterpillar, red admirals, a dragonfly and a bee, a curtain draped above. Noteworthy are the extremely large shells featured at the base of this composition.
This painting is one of few large-scale upright compositions of fruit or flowers painted by the artist in his entire career. It is signed lower left: B. van der. Ast.