Floral Wreath with Mary Magdalene

The wreath of flowers winds itself like a garland through the cartouche on a pedestal. The stone cartouche is painted in trompe l’oeil and embellished with scrolls and human and animal heads. For this seventeenth-century painter, painting flowers was not just a way of displaying his masterly talents. Nor was it merely a depiction of an inventory of the known…

The wreath of flowers winds itself like a garland through the cartouche on a pedestal. The stone cartouche is painted in trompe l’oeil and embellished with scrolls and human and animal heads. For this seventeenth-century painter, painting flowers was not just a way of displaying his masterly talents. Nor was it merely a depiction of an inventory of the known species of the time. Flowers and plants are always associated with the transience and vanity of our earthly life. In this painting it is emphasised further by the depiction in the view through the cartouche. It is a painting within a painting in which we recognise Mary Magdalene as a hermit. She is kneeling before a crucifixion with one hand resting on a skull. The lushness of the landscape in the distance forms a contrast with the cave in which the saint is depicted. Although the panel is attributed to Daniel Seghers, the figure of Mary Magdalene was probably the work of another artist, possibly Cornelis I Schut. Seghers painted on commission, as well as producing work for the free market where this type of painting was very much in demand.