Cornelis de MAN (Delft, 1621 - 1706) Garlands of loves surrounding a trompe-l'oeil mirror Oil on oak panel, three boards Signed 'C. de Man' lower right The centre decorated with a bevelled mirror Bearing a label 'J.A. Butti' in Edinburgh on the reverse Garlands of putti surrounding a mirror in trompe-l'oeil, oil on oak panel, signed, by C. de Man 29.33 x 23.22 in. 74.5 x 59 cm Provenance: Anonymous sale; Cologne, Lempertz, 22 November 1979, no. 150, according to the RKD ; Galerie Bruno Meissner, Zurich, 1981; Private collection, Brussels Born in Delft, Cornelis de Man remained deeply attached to the town, which he left only during a stay in Italy between 1643 and 1652. A painter of church interiors and genre scenes, it is in these two fields that he flourished and that we know him today. However, a little-known side of his work is gradually coming to light as the market rediscovers him. In 2022, the Prinsenhof Museum in Delft acquired from a dealer a frame painted by Cornelis de Man in 1655 (inv. no. PDS 416). The work was produced at a time when Delft was experiencing a major artistic boom, and when the city's painters, most famously Johannes Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch, were experimenting with light, perspective and illusionism. It is this last aspect that the painter addresses here through the architectural frame and the blue silk curtain painted in trompe l'oeil. Cornelis de Man combines the painted motifs - young lovers and jewels - with the utilitarian function of the mirror, which, like a vanity, reminds the viewer not only of the transience of life, but also of the deceptive nature of earthly beauty. Cornelis de MAN (Delft, 1621 - 1706) 74.5 x 59 cm