The grace and glory, the exultant euphoria of successful flower painting

Art is not going to the dogs in every field. Take flower painting. The Ancient Egyptians were depicting garden scenes from about 2000 bc, especially in private tombs, painting with delight and verisimilitude plants such as the mandrake, the red poppy, cornflowers and (a favourite) the blue and white lotus. In Europe, mediaeval and Renaissance art was intensely floriated, and German artists, especially Dürer, painted flowers with almost religious passion, accuracy and grace. But it was in the Netherlands that flower painting evolved into a special art form. Entire families of gifted and dedicated artists such as Ambrosius Bosschaert, his three sons Ambrosius the Younger, Johannes and Abraham, and his brother-in-law Balthasar van der Ast, did virtually nothing else but construct elaborate flower pieces, in oil, usually on copper or special board, to adorn the state rooms of wealthy Dutch merchants and officials, who themselves ‘collected’ special blooms, especially tulips, and scientific botany books.