Narcissi, Periwinkle and Violets in a Ewer

This sixteenth-century bouquet is all the more exceptional since flower pieces were rarely painted before 1600. It was only in the seventeenth century that flowers became a popular subject in Dutch and Flemish painting. Ludger tom Ring’s still life anticipates this development.

A tall ewer holds a posy of narcissi, violets and periwinkle flowers. Some individual blooms and a sprig of rue lie on the table. The periwinkle flowers would originally have been a purple-blue colour, but the blue pigment has faded over the centuries leaving only the orange-brown undercoat visible.

Ludger tom Ring was the youngest member of a family of painters working in Münster. He trained with his father and spent time in Holland, Flanders and England. In 1569 he settled in Braunschweig, where he would live until his death. He primarily painted portraits, as well as a number of flower pieces.