Balthasar van der Ast (Middelburg 1593/4-1657 Delft)

This distilled portrayal of flowers and insects on a stone ledge underlines both van der Ast’s debt to his brother-in-law and master, Ambrosius Bosschaert I, and his own distinct contributions to the genre of still life painting. The precision with which the different elements are executed, for example the careful delineation of the individual petals of the carnation, and the application of paint layers to create both polished and slightly hazy effects, is very close to the work of Bosschaert; however, the arrangement of these objects as individual specimens across the ledge is a notable departure, since Bosschaet’s compositions, whether vertical or horizontal, are anchored by a central vase or basket. These more distilled works by van der Ast anticipate the paintings of Jan van Kessel and Adriaen Coorte. The shells and insects now enjoy equal prominence to the flowers, and the heightened realism with which they are depicted may suggest the influence of Roelandt Savery. Another novel element is van der Ast’s incorporation of shells, here placed prominently in the foreground, reflecting the growing fashion in seventeenth-century Holland for collecting exotica.