Flower Garland Around the Virgin and Child (Madrid)
Object type | Painting |
Genre | Garland |
Date | ca. 1621 |
Dimensions | 48 x 41 cm |
Support | Panel |
Medium | Oil |
Our attribution | Jan Brueghel the Elder |
Other authorities | Ertz 2008-10, #468 Ertz 1979, #367 |
Location | Madrid, Spain |
Collection | Museo del Prado |
Accession numbers | inv. #1416 |
Tags | Van Balen, Christ, Virgin Mary, Flowers, Fruit, Garland |
External resources | Museo del Prado |
Diaz Padron suggests that the interior icon was also painted by Jan; while this is surely not true, Van Balen does seem to have tried to conform his style to Jan's here. DP also notes that some groupings of flowers here are replicated from other garland paintings, such as those in the Louvre, Munich, Schleissheim, and the Prado's other garland painting. Here, many items of produce are added into the garland to give a general sense of abundance.
Diaz Padron also suggests that several documents refer to this painting, and give it a provenance back to Isabella in Brussels who would then have sent it to the Infanta in Spain. He notes that in a letter to Bianchi of April 22, 1611, Jan Brueghel mentions making two versions of a garland painting, one of them for Borromeo and the other for Isabella. However, this seems too early for it to refer to the present painting. On the other hand we do have the following description from the 1623 Spanish Inventory: "#I 939 Otra tabla de Nuestra Señora con el Niño en los brazos con un festón de frutas y flores con moldura de ébano que envió la señora ynfanta de Flandes.”