Flowers in a Vase
ca.1670–80
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
Plate: 19 3/16 × 14 7/8 in. (48.7 × 37.8 cm) Sheet: 26 1/16 × 20 13/16 in. (66.2 × 52.9 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1920
Accession Number
20.61.2(39)
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
"Flowers in a Vase," created around 1670–80, is a exquisite collaboration between French flower painter Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer and engraver Nicolas de Poilly. Monnoyer, renowned for his lavish floral compositions in the Baroque style, likely designed the intricate bouquet overflowing from a ornate vase, capturing the opulence of Louis XIV's courtly France. Poilly's masterful etching and engraving techniques translate this into a highly detailed print, blending soft etched lines for texture with precise engraved details for depth and realism. This still-life print exemplifies the era's fascination with floral motifs, which adorned tapestries, wallpapers, and decorative arts. Prints like this one democratized access to Monnoyer's elaborate designs, serving as models for artists, craftsmen, and collectors across Europe. Classified under Ornament & Architecture at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, its generous plate size (nearly 20 x 15 inches) highlights the technical ambition of 17th-century printmaking, where such works bridged fine art and practical design. Today, acquired through the Rogers Fund in 1920, it invites visitors to marvel at the timeless allure of nature's bounty rendered in ink— a delicate balance of beauty, skill, and historical elegance.
About the Artist
Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer|Nicolas de Poilly · 1636–1699
Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (1636-1699) was a Franco-Flemish painter who became the most distinguished and formative still life and flower painter of the French Baroque period. Born in Lille, he trained in Antwerp where he absorbed the techniques of Flemish masters before moving to Paris by 1650. Patronized by Charles Le Brun, Louis XIV's Minister of Arts, Monnoyer worked extensively on decorative pain...