PRESENTATION OUTLINE
1614 - Flowers in a glass vase, oil on copper
The artist carefully placed common flowers (tulips, roses, daffodils, etc) for a balanced composition of form and colour. He then painted this with great precision and also added a butterfly, caterpillar and a fly.
1454 - Saint John the Baptist retiring to the Desert
The young saint is depicted twice: leaving the home of his parents and walking into the wilderness. The narrative is framed by depictions of roses seen from below. New Testament (Luke 1:80).
This painting is part of a predella of an altarpiece showing scenes from the life of Saint John the Baptist; three other panels in the collection come from the same predella: 'The Birth of Saint John the Baptist', 'The Baptism of Christ' and 'The Head of John the Baptist brought to Herod'. The panels have been associated with an altarpiece dated 1454 of the 'Virgin and Child with Saints' (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art) which includes Saint John the Baptist.
1515-24 - Saint Jerome in a Rocky Landscape
Saint Jerome is shown as a hermit in the foreground. In the background is the final scene in the story of the saint's lion told in the 'Golden Legend'. The lion has been charged with guarding the monastery ass: the ass was stolen by some merchants while the lion was asleep, but was later recognised by the lion and the merchants responsible for the theft came to beg forgiveness from the abbot.