Gaspard Peter Verbruggen II - Still-life with flowers & bacchus celebration

Large and captivating 17th century Flemish oil, "Bacchus celebration surrounded by a stone cartouche adorned by garlands of flowers" by the celebrated artist Gaspard Pieter Verbruggen II

This captivating painting depicts, surrounded by opulently decorated floral garlands, a Bacchus celebration. This feast also known as Bacchanalia, was both a joyous and extended affair in ancient Rome. Spanning several days, it featured lively music, colorful costumes, extravagant feasts, and unrestrained merrymaking. Participants engaged in ecstatic dances, singing, and drinking to honor Bacchus and celebrate the advent of spring. This festival provided an opportunity for people to cast off inhibitions, fostering a sense of community and shared enjoyment while embracing the pleasures of life. The painting is fully of delightful small details, such as the lizard and snail on the top of the cartouches. The longer ones looks, the more one finds.

Gaspard Pieter Verbruggen II (1664–1730) was born in Antwerp, a city renowned for its flourishing artistic culture in the 17th century. His father, Gaspard Pieter Verbruggen I, was an accomplished still-life painter, and young Verbruggen was trained in his father’s workshop. This early exposure to the art of still-life painting laid the foundation for Verbruggen II’s career, and he quickly became known for his refined technique and elaborate compositions. In 1677, at the age of 13, Verbruggen II became a master of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke, a significant accomplishment that positioned him within the city’s artistic elite. By 1691, records indicate that Verbruggen II had left Antwerp for The Hague, seeking new opportunities. His time in the Dutch Republic influenced his work, and he likely catered to the tastes of Dutch patrons who favored grand, decorative still-lifes that embodied the prosperity of the era. Verbruggen returned to Antwerp in the late 1690s, where he resumed his artistic practice, collaborating with other painters on large-scale decorative works. His output during this period continued to reflect the Baroque fascination with opulence and nature’s abundance. His compositions grew more complex, often featuring not only flowers and fruit but also butterflies, birds, and insects, meticulously rendered to evoke a sense of life and vitality within the stillness of his scenes.

His works are preserved in major collections, such as the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, and the Rijksmuseum amongst others.

Provenance:
Flemish private collection

Measurements:
The canvas measures ca. 127 by 85,5 cms and with frame ca. 149 by 110 cms.

Faint signature lower right.