Four Tulips — Boter Man, Joncker, Grote Geplumaceerde, Voorwint

This watercolor on vellum displays four individual tulip bulbs, each characterized by the red-and-white 'broken' patterns favored during the Dutch Golden Age. Interspersed between the flowers are a peacock butterfly and a grasshopper, rendered with naturalistic precision. The work serves as a record of rare and highly sought-after plant varieties common in 17th-century Dutch garden culture.

During the 17th century, the 'tulipomania' phenomenon often intersected with natural philosophy and the study of nature's hidden mechanisms; the variegated colors of these flowers were later understood as the result of mosaic viruses, a mystery that fascinated natural philosophers of the period. This focus on the fleeting perfection of biological specimens aligns with the period's interest in the transitory nature of existence, often explored in the memento mori tradition.