Flowers in a Vase with Shells and Insects Epic Poster

Simple, bold and beautiful. Epic Posters are dramatic while still retaining the character of the original image.

Printed on revolutionary Tyvek® paper (a patented complex weave technique that's almost impossible to tear), these posters are very resilient and have a satin finish. Each poster measures 6 x 4 feet (1.8 x 1.2 metres) and is delivered rolled in a tube with handy cardboard struts and robust bulldog clips for easy hanging.

About this painting

Balthasar van der Ast's Flowers in a Vase with Shells and Insects, about 1630

Oil on oak, 47 x 36.8 cm

© The National Gallery, London

About the artist

Balthasar van der Ast has painted an arrangement of common flowers - irises, tulips, roses, carnations, antirrhinum and a fritillary - in a small earthenware vase. Insects - a butterfly, spider, bush cricket and wasp - crawl over them or hover around them. On the shelf on which the vase stands are three shells; in the early 17th century exotic shells were highly prized by Dutch collectors. The composition is carefully balanced in form and colour. The artist was the brother-in-law of Ambrosious Bosschaert the Elder, whose still life 'Flowers in a Vase' is in the National Gallery's Collection. He trained in Bosschaert's studio in Middelburg, continuing his master's style of precise descriptions of flowers and fruit.