(Antwerp 1601–1678)
A floral wreath enclosing a gilded tazza,
oil on panel, 41 x 33 cm, framed

We are grateful to Klaus Ertz for confirming the authenticity of the present painting. A certificate (4 March 2016) is available.

Klaus Ertz writes: “The pigments in Jan Brueghel the Younger’s typical colours have been thickly applied in an impasto manner and give a brilliant and fresh impression. In keeping with the artist’s early period, the flowers are still entirely in the tradition of the father, Jan Brueghel the Elder, who had allowed his son to collaborate with him in several of his own flower still lifes. Although Jan the Elder had painted several compositions featuring tazzas with blossoms, there is only one example of a floral wreath that could have served as a model for the son, who combined the motifs of the tazza and the floral wreath to create an autonomous composition. Whereas the goblet in the centre of the composition is presented to the spectator in a frontal view, the slant of the floral wreath corresponds to the slanted positions of the knife set with a pearl and of the white blossom diagonally placed at the lower right corner of the table: the diagonal as the chief element of this still life.” Ertz dates the painting into the period around 1630.