JUAN DE ARELLANO

(1614 / 1676)

JUAN DE ARELLANO Santorcaz (Madrid) (1614) / Madrid (1676) "Crystal vase with flowers", c. 1660-1670

Oil on canvas.
 
Signed.
 
Juan de Arellano is one of the best flower painters of Spanish painting of the Golden Age. Many details of his life and a good number of works signed by him are known, a good example being this beautiful pair of canvases that represent two arrangements florals, one in a bronze vase and another in a glass one.
He specialized in works of this type, dedicating himself almost exclusively to it, his paintings being highly appreciated and valued both by the clientele of his time and by the collecting that developed in later periods. These paintings belong to his mature period, and must have been made in the sixties of the 17th century. Both vases, with a vertical composition, are placed on a stone shelf.
 
The glass vase is much more common in its production, but the bronze vase finds a very close parallel in a specimen preserved in the Varez Fisa collection. Its compositional simplicity contrasts with the exuberance and richness of the floral arrangements, which stand out for their vivid colors and the way the light shapes their shapes, highlighting them against the neutral background.
 
Bibliography and exhibitions: - VV.AA., "Luces del Barroco", exhibition catalogue, Caixa de Girona Foundation, 2004, pp. 114-115.
 
Measurements: 59 x 49 cm.