Daniel Seghers (Anverse 1590 - 1661)
and Erasmus II Quellin (Anverse 1607 - 1678)
Garland of flowers with "Ecce Homo"
oil on canvas
cm. 94 x 71
cat. 40443

Daniel Seghers, Flemish painter who entered the order of the Jesuits in 1614, learned the style of floral painting directly from Jan Bruegel dei Velluti, assistant and friend of Rubens. He was in Rome for a short stay, returning then to his fatherland, where he continued his prolific production until his death. The artist specialized in a particularly special and acclaimed type of painting that made him famous throughout Europe. His compositions repeat the same scheme without great variations: rich garlands of flowers painted with meticulous attention to naturalistic phenomena according to the Flemish tradition of which Bruegel had been the leader, and false frames in stone that surround sacred scenes or figures of saints placed in the centre, executed by other artists of Bruegel's circle, in this case by Erasmus II Quellin.
The painting passed from the Jesuit collections to the Vatican after the suppression of the Order (1773) and then to the Picture Gallery of Pius VI in 1790.