Tulips, roses, irises and other flowers in an ornate gilded vase, with a dragonfly and a snail, on a marble ledge draped with velvet

This accomplished still life is a rare example of the work of Nicolaes Lachtropius, about whom very little information survives. His small surviving oeuvre consists of floral still lifes, which, like the present work, are strongly indebted to those of Willem van Aelst (1626-1683), and also forest-floor still lifes inspired by those of Otto Marseus van Schrieck (1619⁄20-1678).

What little is known of Lachtropius’ biography is constructed from fragmentary records. The exact date and place of his birth remain unknown, but municipal archives show that he was active in Amsterdam from 1656 until at least 1668, the year in which the present work was executed. By this date, Willem van Aelst had settled permanently in the city, and was firmly established as one of the most prominent still-life painters of his generation. Between roughly 1673 and 1689, Lachtropius is documented as residing in Alphen aan den Rijn, a town situated between Leiden and Utrecht, and was last recorded as a merchant there in 1700.