The Origins and Development of the Flemish Madonnas in Flower Garlands: Decoration and Devotion

The Madonnas in Flower Garlands painted by Jan Brueghel in collaboration with Rubens, Hendrik van Balen, and other artists have not lacked attention in the monographs and in the standard books on flower painting. The painting in Munich has ben the subject of fairly wide-ranging discussion, while the symbolic content of the flower garlands has not gone unobserved. To the modern beholder such paintings may seem rather sentimental and anodyne images, little more than pretexts for the virtuoso painting of flowers and charming putti; bus such an assessment begs a variety of questions about this cla... Mehr ...