MIGNON, Abraham

This still-life, which was painted in the 1660s, shows a bulbous vase resting on a stone ledge. The arrangement in the vase contains a variety of flowers, including roses, carnations, irises, Chinese lanterns and poppies, interspersed with ears of corn, a stalk of blackberries and an orange twig. To the right is a wilting tulip, below which we see gooseberries and a thistle entwined by bindweed. A number of snails and insects, including butterflies and dragonflies, spiders, beetles, ants, bees and caterpillars, inhabit the picture. The thorny stems, magnified by the glass bowl as if by a reading glass, form a strong contrast to the rounded forms of the flowers with their soft, velvety petals.

Mignon’s earlier vase paintings allow direct reference to de Heem’s flower pieces, both in their arrangements as well as in the distribution of light and colour. In keeping with this, Mignon has arranged the flowers asymmetrically; the three prominent striped tulips create strong accents in the picture’s upper half that are offset by the compact motif of the three roses at the left. The blades of grass, ears of corn and blackberry stalks contrast with the full, heavy blooms. Illumination comes from an outside source on the left that lights the canvas almost front on. Most strongly illuminated are the triple-rose motif and the carnation that hangs below the ledge. The monochrome background, which produces scarcely any depth, and the lack of a middleground heighten the plasticity of the flower arrangement in the foreground. A sense of space is further created by the ledge and the reflection of the studio window in the vase.

Seventeenth-century fruit and flower pieces are often interpreted as Vanitas still-lifes, in which the transience of all life is placed before the viewer. In the present example, the wilting flowers and the insects which devour and blight the flowers and fruit should be understood as Vanitas symbols. As so often, these references to transience can only be seen after a closer look at the work.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 7 minutes):

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, ballet suite, op. 71, Waltz of the Flowers

This painting is a variation on the artist’s style as seen in his other works. However, the individual objects are no longer scattered across the forest ground but are grouped together in an arched niche, to form a fruit-basket motif that resembles the display of a harvest festival.

The painting contains both Eucharistic symbols and an element of transience, indicated by the small number of rotten spots of the fruit, as well as the presence of a clock, and the dualism of good and evil. The two rather cute little animals, a squirrel and a goldfinch, are also in opposition to each other. The squirrel seems to be chained up, but on closer inspection we notice that it has managed to free itself. It has cracked open a walnut and is now eating its kernel. The squirrel had been regarded as a symbol of the evil since the Middle Ages. In this painting it embodies the unleashing of evil in the form of harmlessness. The bell collar around its neck also identifies it as a ‘fool’ and thus a sinner. The meaning of a squirrel eating walnut becomes obvious when we consider that St Augustine saw the walnut as a symbol of Christ, with the shell as the wood of the cross and the kernel as the life-giving nature of Christ.

Unlike the squirrel, the goldfinch is a christological symbol, particularly with reference to the Passion. Its positive meaning can be gathered from its position in the upper portion of the painting (top=sphere of salvation). The actions of the bird are worth nothing. Chained to an arched semicircle, from which it can peck food out of a small container, it is pulling up a thimble-sized receptacle from the left-hand edge of the shelf. It is filled with water or - more likely - wine (as a Eucharistic symbol of the blood of Christ), which has been scooped out of a conical glass without stem or base.

Abraham Mignon’s garland paintings display a great virtuosity and special technique of interplay of vivid colours, often mixed with the hidden meaning of vanity so typical of the time. While other cartouche paintings show the Virgin and the Child or stay blank in the centre, the present one shows a young female figure wearing an antique-looking dress in golden ochre, a white chemise and a blue cape profusely swinging behind her. The belt and diadem in her hair with precious stones give her the appearance of a mythical, allegorical and/or noble background.

This hanging garland of flowers and fruit includes roses, tulips and raspberries, along with a variety of insects. The abundantly dense festoon, an arrangement of both wild and cultivated flowers mostly at the peak of their bloom, hangs from a shimmering blue ribbon at each end.

Mignon never dated his paintings so it is very difficult to establish a chronology for his work; however, this hanging garland can be dated to c. 1665-67, a time when Mignon’s handling is still very close to that of his master Jan Davidsz. de Heem.

Like van Schrieck and Ruysch, Abraham Mignon also composed dioramic situations in the form of forest still-lifes. Set against a dark background without clear spatial delimitations, we can see pedestals and stone plinths building up from the ground. These are covered with an abundance of fruit and vegetables, with delicate stalks of grain winding themselves around pumpkins and corn cobs with blue and yellow kernels. Together with peaches, plums and grapes they combine to form an arrangement which has an affinity to de Heem’s religious fruit still-lifes.

This painting, too, includes an encoded Christian message. Because of its many seeds and its rapid growth, the pumpkin had been interpreted as a symbol of growing Christian faith since the early Middle Ages. Similar ideas were probably associated - as far as can be determined - with corn cobs and its many kernels, though corn is not mentioned in the Bible. Grapes and corns are well-known references to the Eucharist again. In Mignon’s painting the artist arranged the fruit in such a way that it is framed vertically by branches growing upwards from the ground. These branches, which are probably intended to indicate an oak tree, are completely covered with moss and seem almost dried up, though some shoots can be identified which indicate the tree’s ability to survive.

This painting shows a still-life of red and white grapes in a basket, peaches, plums, chestnuts, an ear of corn and gooseberries resting on a forest floor, with snails, butterflies, a caterpillar, wasp and other insects. It is a highly typical and exceptionally well-preserved still-life by Mignon, signed lower right: A. Mignon/ f.

This still-life consists of fruit, birds and insects on a background of ruins, with a mouse entering a nest.

Notable among the artists Jan Davidsz. de Heem trained during his stay in Utrecht who then worked in his manner is the flower and fruit specialist Abraham Mignon.