Composition 16

The Dutch, as we’ve seen, took pleasure in looking and pleasure in illusion. They took pleasure in recreating the experience and joy of seeing. But they were modest and were always sure to take their pleasure in a restrained way.

In this work, the visual principles of the Golden Age may remain, but this exuberant celebration of a sea of beautiful things is the very opposite of modest. Here the artist throws caution to the wind and shows us all he has to offer.

Everything is sumptuous, gorgeous. The nereid Amphitrite, wife of Poseidon, stares over the scene from her Aubusson tapestry. Glorious green silk falls in from the other side and cascades around the arrangement over the Roman marble console table. Books, a candlestick, two charming gilt classical figurines and fruit – grapes, lemons, an apple and pear, the odd plum – are classic still life element, showing the virtuosity of this reproduction.

A sprig of rambling roses, so dappled by reflected light they appear painted, twist up the terracotta urn and lead us to the immodest glories of the flowers themselves, bursting lilacs, pinks, scarlets and corals in an explosion of summer abundance.

We gasp at their beauty and the beauty of how they are presented.