Antwerp, 1607 -1678 · Figure, flower and baroque collaboration

Quellin paints the Virgin, the Child and Saint John in gray while Daniel Seghers surrounds them with flowers: two specialties brought together in an image of luxurious devotion.

Erasmus Quellin the Younger is an Antwerp painter, designer and engraver trained in a world of sculptors. A student then collaborator of Rubens, he became master of the guild of Saint-Luc in 1633 -1634 and took over several intellectual and decorative functions of the workshop after the death of the master. His art combines Rubenian monumentality with a more classic construction, nourished by architecture and erudition. The Garland of Flowers with the Virgin Mary, the Child Jesus and Saint John belongs to a genre based on collaboration. Quellin performs the central figures in grisaille, like a sculpted relief, while the Jesuit Daniel Seghers, renowned flower specialist, paints the botanical crown. The rhomboidal garland does not serve as a simple frame. Roses, tulips, carnations and foliage transform the sacred image into a perpetual offering, independent of the seasons. The contrast between brightly colored flowers and monochrome figures distinguishes the living world from the inner image while uniting them. These shared works were particularly sought after by European courts and collectors, who recognized them as natural virtuosity, Catholic culture and prestige of the Antwerp workshop. The "Erasmus Quellin the Younger" selection notably compares Garland of Flowers with the Virgin Mary, the Child Jesus and Saint John. Its reading favors composition.

Quellin gives the sacred the permanence of the stone; Seghers offers him the impossible freshness of a spring that never fades.