1596 -1631 · Madrid, court of Philip IV and Golden Age

Fruits, glassware, flowers and portraits of scholars make Juan van der Hamen one of the most refined masters of Spanish still life.

Juan van der Hamen y Leon was born in Madrid in 1596 into a family of Flemish origin linked to the royal guard of archers. His environment, cultivated and close to the court, put him in contact with poets, writers and nobles of Madrid from Philip III then Philip IV. His pictorial training remained poorly documented, but he already worked successfully in 1615 and received royal commissions from 1619. Van der Hamen practiced portraiture, religious painting, allegory, landscape and especially still life, a genre which ensured his fame. His compositions feature fruits, confectionery, ceramics and glassware on brightly lit stone levels. The dark background, precise intervals and reflections transform each object into an autonomous presence. The garlands of flowers show his dialogue with Flemish tradition, while the Portrait of Francisco de Quevedo recalls his belonging to the literary circles of the court. Also an author of verses on painting and poetry, he unsuccessfully sought the king's office as painter in 1627. His death at the age of thirty-five interrupted a brief but fruitful career which profoundly renewed Madrid's bodegon. The "Juan van der Hamen" selection notably compares Portrait of Francisco de Quevedo and Landscape with garland of flowers. His reading favors drawing.

Van der Hamen elevates ordinary things to the rank of court spectacle: the glass, the fruit and the flower become architecture of light.