Ambrosius Bosschaert

Key facts

Lived

1573–1621, Dutch

Movement

• Baroque

Works held in

20 museums^[1]

• Flowers in a Glass Vase

  National Gallery

  Trafalgar Square, United Kingdom

  2 works

  

  Museum detailsMap
• A Vase of Flowers

  Ashmolean Museum

  Beaumont Street, United Kingdom

  1 works

  Museum detailsMap
• Flowers in a Glass

  Cleveland Museum of Art

  Wade Park, United States

  1 works

  Museum detailsMap
• Flower Still Life

  J. Paul Getty Museum

  Los Angeles, United States

  1 works

  Museum detailsMap
• Flowers in a blue and white porcelain vase

  Kunsthistorisches Museum

  Maria-Theresien-Platz, Austria

  1 works

  Museum detailsMap
• Bouquet of Flowers on a Ledge

  Los Angeles County Museum of Art

  Los Angeles, United States

  1 works

  Museum detailsMap

Plan your visit to see Ambrosius Bosschaert →

• Ambrosius bosschaert facts?+

  Ambrosius Bosschaert was born in Antwerp in 1573 and moved with his family to Middelburg around 1587. He signed his paintings with a stylised A containing a smaller B, a monogram modelled on Albrecht Durer's.
• How did ambrosius bosschaert die?+

  Ambrosius Bosschaert died in 1621 at the age of 48.
• What materials did ambrosius bosschaert use?+

  Ambrosius Bosschaert almost always painted on copper. He arranged his bouquets against open windows with views of the world.
• What should I know about Ambrosius Bosschaert's prints?+

  Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573-1621) was a still-life painter of the Dutch Golden Age. He is known for his detailed depictions of flowers; these were typically painted in oil on copper or panel. Bosschaert did not create prints himself. However, his paintings were reproduced as engravings and etchings by other artists, after his death. These prints made his compositions accessible to a wider audience. One example is a print by Bartholomeus van den Winckel after Bosschaert, now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Similar prints after Bosschaert appear occasionally at auction. These are often unsigned, and can be difficult to attribute definitively. Prints after Bosschaert offer a more affordable way to own an image similar to his paintings. However, they lack the colour and textural qualities of his original oil paintings. When considering a print, examine its condition, paper type, and provenance. These factors affect its value and collectability.
• What style or movement did Ambrosius Bosschaert belong to?+

  Ambrosius Bosschaert, active in the early 17th century, is usually associated with the early Baroque period, specifically within the context of Dutch and Flemish painting. The Baroque period, which corresponds roughly to the 17th century, saw a widening of thematic fields in painting. Bosschaert's career occurred during a time of specialisation, when artists focused on specific subjects. He concentrated on still-life painting, especially flowers. This genre gained unprecedented importance during the Baroque era. While still lifes had existed before, they often served as elements within larger compositions, such as kitchen or market scenes. The Baroque period saw the emancipation of the still life as an independent and valid subject. Netherlandish Baroque painting saw the creation of specific schemes within various genres, giving individual objects their own distinct importance. Bosschaert's detailed and realistic depictions of flowers reflect this trend, even if his style predates the later exuberance often associated with the Baroque.
• What techniques or materials did Ambrosius Bosschaert use?+

  Ambrosius Bosschaert painted in oils, typically on wood panels. For example, Still Life with Flowers, held at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, is oil on panel. The panel has a thin, white ground layer, with a yellow, ochre-coloured imprimatura. The pigments and media that Bosschaert used were in keeping with standard practices of the time. Bosschaert's contemporary, Brueghel, employed a painting method characterised as deliberately slow, which allowed him to achieve a high degree of finish and detail. Brueghel sometimes took months to finish commissions. It is possible that he worked on several paintings at once, allowing the works to dry at various stages. This maintained a crisp appearance, because he avoided applying paint on top of a layer that was still wet. When painting flowers from life, Brueghel had to wait for the flowers to be in season. He also had to have access to them.
• When was ambrosius bosschaert born?+

  Ambrosius Bosschaert was born in 1573 in the Netherlands. Ambrosius Bosschaert died in 1621, aged 48.
• Where can I see Ambrosius Bosschaert's work?+

  Paintings by Ambrosius Bosschaert are held in various collections. These include the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden, and the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad. You can also find his work in the National Gallery^[5] of Scotland, in Edinburgh. Other locations include the Detroit Institute of Arts, the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin, and the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt. Bosschaert's paintings can be seen at the Staatliche Kunsthalle in Karlsruhe, and the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Kassel. Works by this artist are also held in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, and the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow. These are just some of the places where you can view work by Ambrosius Bosschaert.
• Where was Ambrosius Bosschaert from?+

  Ambrosius Bosschaert was from the Netherlands, which in the 16th century consisted of seventeen provinces corresponding to modern Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The area was then under the control of Philip II of Spain. Philip’s repressive measures against Protestants led the northern provinces to break from Spain and form the Dutch Republic. The southern provinces remained under Spanish control and retained Catholicism. This political separation between Holland and Belgium also brought artistic differences. Flemish Baroque painters maintained connections to the Baroque art of Catholic Europe, while Dutch schools developed their own styles, consistent with their religion and political structure. During this period, Netherlandish artists received commissions from Catholic churches for altarpieces and religious works. The rise of Protestantism led to a private art market focused on secular subjects, providing a glimpse into the lives of various levels of society.
• Who did Ambrosius Bosschaert influence?+

  Ambrosius Bosschaert's influence is complex. Later Dutch still life was interpreted through the work of Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, especially in France. Chardin, accepted into the Academy as a painter of animals and fruits, may have encountered Dutch paintings in Parisian collections. Chardin's representations, held in a muted colour range and avoiding excess, had more kinship with the "bourgeois" spirit of the Little Masters of Holland than with the Baroque splendour of court art in Flanders. Chardin broke with the tradition of decorative bouquets and sumptuous tableware by choosing everyday objects, such as kitchen utensils, for the subjects of his still lifes. The illusion of naturalness, simplicity of motifs and composition, and the harmony of colours endowed Chardin’s still lifes with a peaceful atmosphere. These traits owed something to the Haarlem painting tradition, such as the monochromatic compositions of Pieter Claesz. Henri Fantin-Latour was a later painter of expanded-space bourgeois still lifes. The example set by Chardin underlies the work of Fantin-Latour, both in his simple fruit pieces and in his more complex flower-piece table corners. Fantin-Latour was important for Cézanne, particularly for his flower pieces.
• Who influenced Ambrosius Bosschaert?+

  Ambrosius Bosschaert would have been exposed to a range of influences, both theoretical and practical. Contemporary art theory emphasised emulation of earlier masters, as well as direct observation of nature. Carel van Mander's 'Grondt' (Groundwork) was the first theoretical treatise published in Dutch. Samuel van Hoogstraten, though critical of van Mander's inspirational rather than didactic approach, was clearly familiar with it. Van Hoogstraten's own teachings encouraged young painters to emulate great masters, competing with both contemporaries and predecessors. He cited Junius, who described emulation as an innate human capacity. Painters were urged to seek inspiration from nature itself. Van Hoogstraten approvingly quoted Dio Chrysostom: "It is impossible for us to excel in anything unless we vie with the most outstanding of all". The concept of "mimesis", or imitation, was central, encompassing both the imitation of nature and the emulation of exemplary works of art.
• Who is ambrosius bosschaert?+

  Ambrosius Bosschaert (1573-1621) was a painter who was one of the first to establish floral still life as an independent genre. He assembled bouquets that could never exist in nature, composing them from sketches made across different seasons.