1626 -1679 · The whole world painted on copper

Fish, flowers, real or fantastic animals, cities and continents become a miniature cabinet of curiosities. Van Kessel unites the Brueghel heritage, zoological observation and a taste for the exotic.

Born and died in Antwerp, Jan van Kessel the Elder belongs to the Brueghel dynasty: grandson of Jan Brueghel the Elder, nephew of Jan Brueghel the Younger and David Teniers II, he learned in an environment where flowers, animals, landscape and collaboration are inseparable. He paints on canvas but excels above all in small brass instruments whose smooth surface promotes almost miniaturist precision. Fish and seafood, fish in front of a landscape, flowers, unicorn and other animals show his ability to isolate each species while integrating it into a colorful spectacle. The Four Parts of the World of 1660 constitute his emblematic project. Four central panels personified Europe, asia, Africa and America, each surrounded by sixteen small views of cities and animals. Of the sixty-eight original elements, thirty-nine are kept at the Prado. Inspired by maps, cosmographies, engravings and cabinets of wonders, the series combines science, collection and imagination: fantastic animals and borrowings from other painters show that the exotic matters as much as accuracy. Religious garlands add another dimension, flowers and fruits often framing a scene created with a collaborator. The "Jan van Kessel" selection adds another dimension, flowers and fruits often framing a scene created with a collaborator. The "Jan van Kessel" selection notably compares Fish and Seafood and Fish and Landscape. His reading favors atmosphere.

Van Kessel reduces the world to better multiply it: on a few centimeters of copper, a city, a fish or a unicorn become the pieces of a marvelous cosmography.