Composition 27

Al mijn conste, en al mijn weten,
Ware noch al veel te cleen,
De coleuren af te meten,
Van de Tulipans alleen.

All my art, and all my knowledge,
would still be far too little
to measure the colours
of the tulips alone.

Petrus Hondius, Dapes inemptae, 1621

How right the poet and clergyman Petrus Hondius was in his elegy to Holland’s favourite flower!

In this further celebration of the tulip, we are dazzled by the number of colours magnificently, brazenly, on display.

Deep purple and delicate lavender. Coral orange and flaming orange. Yellow, red, white, off-white and the palest blush pink. Single-coloured and variegated.

A whole rainbow of colour and tone seems contained in that glorious Chinese vase, itself as vivid as the blooms it holds.

Colour and magnificence surround the flowers too. Red and gold damask, a gold sconce, deep veined malachite curlicues and a scattering of dazzling lemons. Two shiny apples and a single blood orange, onto which an ant has crawled, to remind us that everything fades.