Lot 09

Jan Kašpar Hirschely (1695 - 1743) PAIRED FLORAL STILL LIVES

The paired floral still lifes are typical Central European Baroque cabinet paintings of the first half of the 18th century. When painting floral still lifes, Hirschely placed emphasis on the aesthetic appeal of the work. The painter created rich mannerist arrangements with strong colour tones coming to the foreground and tried to meet the contemporary demands for archaisation of form. Bouquets bursting with life across periods and continents emerge from a dark background and for wealthy merchants or aristocrats could represent a miniature of a precious garden with the most expensive ornamental flowers - often richly feathered or red and white-veined tulips that evoked a literal mania in 17th century.