Floral still life

Dirck van Rijswijck

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Trained as a goldsmith, Van Rijswijck was celebrated during his lifetime for his inlaywork of mother-of-pearl in ebony or black marble creating still-life pictures and several tabletops. The large-scale importation of tropical shells into Amsterdam during the seventeenth century prompted contemporary artists to specialize in the working of mother-of-pearl. Carefully choosing pieces that simulated the natural colors of his subjects, Van Rijswijck engraved certain features with a burin and darkened them with charcoal and wax. Like most flower paintings, his compositions were not entirely realistic in their portrayal of blooms that available during different seasons.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art