Jacob MARREL (Frankenthal, 1613 - Frankfurt am Main, 1681) Vase of flowers on an entablature Oil on oak panel, two boards Monogrammed and dated 'JMoK fecit / A° 1679' lower right (Restorations) Vase of flowers on an entablature, oil on oak panel, dated, by J. Marrel 25.19 x 18.50 in. 64 x 47 cm Provenance: Collection of Count Jan de Bousies, Brussels; Gaston Peltzer Collection, Verviers (Belgium), in 1965; Anonymous sale; London, Christie's, 11 December 1992, no. 68 ; Private collection, Brussels Bibliography: "Un amateur de peinture ancienne vous montre les fleurs de sa collection", Connaissance des Arts, 157, March 1965, p. 80 (as Attributed to Jan Davidsz. De Heem) Gerhard Bott, Ein Stück von allerleei Blumenwerk, ein stuck von Früchten, zwei Stück auf Tuch mit Hecht: die Stillebenmaler Soreau, Binoit, Codino und Marell in Hanau and Francfurt 1600-1650, Hanau, 2001, p. 226, no. 11 Painted in the last years of his career, our painting is a perfect illustration of Jacob Marrel's synthesis of the German still life tradition, which he learned from Georg Flegel in his youth, and the Dutch heritage he discovered in Utrecht in the studio of Jan Davidz. de Heem from 1632 onwards. The artist was in Frankfurt at the time and demonstrated immense technical mastery in rendering volumes and transparency effects. Marrel knew every flower, especially tulips, to which he dedicated a famous catalogue kept at the Rijksmuseum (no. RP-T-1967-86) and numerous studies, and on whose market he speculated, thus taking part in the famous tulpenmania. It is also worth pointing out that the painter is said to have founded a school of flower painting in Frankfurt. These include roses, tulips, irises, forget-me-nots and marigolds, as well as a grasshopper on a stone cornice, ready to pounce on the viewer. Its neighbour is a cut chrysanthemum, one of whose buds will probably never bloom: a fatal omen and memento mori, offering a meditation appropriate to the nature of this painting, which is both a stilleven and a stilleben. The highlight of our painting is the reflection painted on the body of the vase, revealing the interior of the painter's studio. On the left-hand side, there are two tall glass windows with heraldic motifs that are almost legible. The bottom right-hand corner of the vase reveals a candlelit interior that appears to rest on high vaults. These details should be compared with an earlier painting by the same artist showing a similar play of reflections (Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 14 January 1993, no. 51). Jacob MARREL (Frankenthal, 1613 - Frankfurt am Main, 1681) 64 x 47 cm