Garland of Flowers with Madonna and Child

This painting is a collaboration of Daniel Seghers (Antwerp, 1590 - Antwerp, 1661)
and Cornelis Schut (Antwerp, 1597 - Antwerp, 1655).

The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo

The garlands of flowers are thought to have represented flower offerings to the Madonna and Child, at the same time that they were symbols of the admonitory theme of Vanitas. In this work the flowers were painted by Daniel Seghers while the Madonna and Child were painted by Cornelis Schut. This entrusting of the different elements to separate artists was a standard practice, and while occasionally the religious element was entrusted to a master painter such as Rubens, in general, the flowers were the central theme of the work and hence these works must be primarily considered as flower paintings. Read more...