Lionel Nathan de Rothschild

British, 1882 - 1942

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We look across a dirt road or path at a tall, brick wall flanking an ornamented, stone gateway with a white, marble manor house in the distance in this horizontal landscape painting. Atop a low hill, the sunlit manor is outlined against a vivid, light blue sky with silvery-gray, fluffy clouds, which fills the top two-thirds of the composition. Statues line the gray, tiled roofline along the central section of the house, and more statues stand in the grassy lawn to either side. Closer to us, the gateway and people around it are cast into shadow. The arched gate is flanked by flat columns and is topped with a triangular pediment filled with relief sculpture of people and ornamental scrolls. A ramp leads up to the opening of the gate. Two men passing under the arch have long, brown hair and wear brimmed hats, long coats, breeches tied at the knee, and stockings. The man in front carries a walking stick. A woman wearing a white head covering and long, dark dress, carries a baby tied to her back and holds her hand out toward the men. Near the men, three brown dogs walk as one raises a leg against the gate, and a fourth sniffs at the side of the ramp where it meets the ground. The red brick wall is topped with a balustrade. To our left of the gate and on the far side of the wall, two men lean on the balustrade, angled in toward each other as if in conversation, near a fountain with a sculpted woman on an ornamental urn. Below them, at the foot of the brick wall, a man sits on a cracked piece of marble sculpted with ornamental designs in low relief. The man wears a royal-blue suit with golden yellow stockings and a tan, brimmed hat. He leans forward to touch the collar of a long-legged, slender dog while four other dogs stand, sit, and lie down nearby. To our right, the roofline of a large, red brick building is seen over the tops of a grove of trees on the far side of the wall. The painting style throughout is detailed and precise, so one could conceivably count the individual bricks in the wall, for instance.
Jan van der Heyden, An Architectural Fantasy, c. 1670, oil on oak panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1968.13.1

An Architectural Fantasy

Jan van der Heyden · c. 1670 · oil on oak panel ·  Accession ID  1968.13.1

A profusion of flowers in shades of white, orange, blue, and deep pink, with earthy-green leaves, burst from the narrow opening of a glass vase in this vertical still life painting. Shown against a dark brown background, the vase sits on a caramel-brown ledge. The flowers in the center of the arrangement draw the eye. On our right two tulips are streaked with cream white and dark pink. A flower above it, perhaps an anemone, has white ruffled petals with flame-red tips around a denim-blue center. A small snail in a rust-orange shell rests on a curling green leaf nearby. On our left is a partly opened tulip with scarlet-red streaks next to an ivory-white hydrangea with clusters of tiny petals. Trumpet-shaped, sea-blue morning glories and an amber-orange bloom surround the white hydrangea. The top third of the arrangement has a tall, white peony with feathery petals at the center. Queen Anne’s lace nestles alongside small blooms in muted purples and blues, sage-green peapods, and a carrot-orange flower that resembles a daisy. A slender stalk of wheat extends off the right side while another bends to meet the ledge. The lower third of the arrangement is filled with pink roses, more green pea pods, two closed, plum-purple flowers, and another feathery peony, this one crimson red, which droops to meet the ledge near the bottom right corner of the painting. A few blackberries lie on the ledge nearby. Leaves in various sizes and shades of green fill in among the blooms. More insects and creatures are scattered throughout the composition. For example, a caterpillar clings to the underside of the white peony at the top while a brown and black butterfly flies toward it. A bee sits on the white and red anemone, and a snail, salamander, and spider gather on the ledge to the left of the vase. Stems and the water line are visible within the glass vase, which swells from a narrow opening into a wide base. Panes of a window off to our left reflects in the belly of the vase. The artist signed the front face of the ledge near the lower left: “J.D. De Heem f.”
Jan Davidsz de Heem, Vase of Flowers, c. 1660, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Fund, 1961.6.1

Vase of Flowers

Jan Davidsz de Heem · c. 1660 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1961.6.1