Daniel Seghers

A majority of Seghers's work is in a distinctively Flemish genre, which is referred to as 'garland paintings'. Garland paintings are a special type of still life developed in Antwerp by Seghers's master Jan Brueghel the Elder in collaboration with the Italian cardinal Federico Borromeo at the beginning of the 17th century. Other artists involved in the early development of the genre included Hendrick van Balen, Andries Daniels, Peter Paul Rubens and Seghers himself. The genre was initially connected to the visual imagery of the Counter-Reformation movement. It was further inspired by the cult of veneration and devotion to Mary prevalent at the Habsburg court (then the rulers over the Southern Netherlands) and in Antwerp generally. • Illustration — Double wreath surrounding a medaillion with the triumph of love Garland paintings typically show a flower garland around a devotional image, portrait or other religious symbol (such as the host). By the second half of the century secular themes such as portraits and mythological subjects also decorated the central part of the many paintings made in this fashion. Seghers innovated the concept of his teacher Brueghel by including a stone cartouche as the framing elements for the flower garland. He also painted garland paintings of the Pietà in which the flowers were substituted by thistles, thorns, deadly nightshade and other noxious plants as a reference to crown of thorns and the suffering of Christ. An example is the early collaboration with Poussin (Musée Thomas-Henry) for which Poussin painted the Pietà figure and Seghers the garland. Garland paintings were usually collaborations between a still life and a figure painter. Seghers himself generally only painted the flowers and the central subject was filled in later by another artist. This spirit of artistic collaboration, which was seen in the earliest flower garland paintings by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens, is, in fact, a notable quality of Flemish painting in 17th-century Antwerp. • Illustration — St. Ignatius in a cartouche with flowers and cherubs While many of Seghers's collaborators on his garland paintings were anonymous local artists, he often collaborated with leading Antwerp figure painters. There is often uncertainty or disagreement about the identity of collaborators on specific artworks even though Seghers himself compiled a list of the flower still lifes, which he had painted and the patrons for whom he had painted them. In the catalogue he gave a description of each of his paintings, his collaborator and the number of paintings he produced. As the catalogue is incomplete, the collaborators are not always known with certainty. It is known he often worked with Cornelis Schut, Erasmus Quellinus II, Abraham van Diepenbeek, Simon de Vos, Jan van den Hoecke, Gonzales Coques and Rubens. Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert is also mentioned as his collaborator. It is possible that Seghers collaborated with Rubens on a garland painting for the Saint Carolus Borromeus church in Antwerp. During his stay in Rome he also collaborated with Poussin and Domenichino. Unlike in his later collaborations, Seghers is believed to have added flower garlands to existing paintings by Domenichino during his residence in Rome. The garland paintings are often of a large size. The Saint Ignatius in a cartouche with flowers and cherubs, which measures about 190 to 299 cm and includes not only a cartouche painted by Cornelis Schut but also angels attributed to Jan van Balen.

• Illustration — Garland of mixed flowers adorning a stone cartouche surrounding an allegory of vanity Daniel Seghers's art was widely admired during his lifetime, generating great interest from collectors. His style was continued and followed by others including Jan Philip van Thielen, Andries Bosman, Jan Anton van der Baren, Frans Ykens and Jan van den Hecke. His work influenced artists such as Jan Davidsz. de Heem in Antwerp and Juan de Arellano in Madrid. His paintings were highly prized and collected at the court of Frederik Hendrik in The Hague. There, the art collector and secretary to the prince Constantijn Huygens praised the paintings in poetry and corresponded numerous times with the artist, writing that one could almost smell the flowers. The Dutch poet Joost van den Vondel also wrote highly of Seghers's paintings. Other collectors included Christina of Sweden, Charles I, Philip IV of Spain, Maria de' Medici, Charles II, who visited the artist in 1649, and Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, the Italian collector Scipione Borghese and the Antwerp collector and patron of Anthony van Dyck, Cornelis van der Geest. His paintings were usually not sold through traditional contacts such as art dealers, but were instead presented as gifts by the Jesuit order and used for the adornment of churches. They served as stimulants to religious contemplation and as powerful instruments of diplomacy. In 1631, for example, Seghers sent a painting of a Crown of Flowers to Marie de' Medici on the occasion of her visit, together with the Infanta Isabella, to the College of St. Ignatius. His compositions clearly carried a symbolic and devotional element, which was in line with the doctrines of the Jesuits.