{"id":17217,"date":"2025-12-11T14:55:42","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T13:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/?post_type=beleef&#038;p=17217"},"modified":"2026-01-05T11:49:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T10:49:05","slug":"a-surprising-discovery-in-van-verendaels-flower-piece","status":"publish","type":"beleef","link":"https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/en\/beleef\/a-surprising-discovery-in-van-verendaels-flower-piece\/","title":{"rendered":"A surprising discovery in Van Verendael\u2019s flower piece"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the 2025 Colloquium of the Belgian Association of Art Conservators, Sven Van Dorst presented a remarkable discovery from the restoration and technical study of\u00a0<em>Vase of Flowers in a Niche<\/em>\u00a0by Nicolaes Van Verendael. His research revealed that the artist incorporated real butterfly wings into his painting process, an extraordinary feat of craftsmanship that resonates beautifully with the seventeenth-century fascination for natural study and meticulous detail.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1585\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bloemenvaas-in-een-nis-1585x2000.jpg\" alt=\"Flower still life by Nicolaes Van Verendael, showing a richly detailed bouquet of flowers and butterflies arranged within an architectural niche, painted around 1680.\" class=\"wp-image-17205\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bloemenvaas-in-een-nis-1585x2000.jpg 1585w, https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bloemenvaas-in-een-nis-951x1200.jpg 951w, https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bloemenvaas-in-een-nis-768x969.jpg 768w, https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bloemenvaas-in-een-nis-1218x1536.jpg 1218w, https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bloemenvaas-in-een-nis-1623x2048.jpg 1623w, https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bloemenvaas-in-een-nis-scaled.jpg 2029w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1585px) 100vw, 1585px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Nicolaes Van Verendael, <em>Vase of flowers in a Niche<\/em>, <em>c.<\/em>1680<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/foto.jpg\" alt=\"Lecture showing a speaker presenting research on Butterfly Imprints in a Still Life by Nicolaes van Verendael, with technical and microscopic imaging projected on a large screen.\" class=\"wp-image-17203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/foto.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/foto-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/foto-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/foto-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sven Van Dorst during his presentation on Van Verendael\u2019s work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyone keen to explore the world of flower still lifes, their materials and hidden techniques, will find plenty of unexpected insights in\u00a0<em>Forever Flowers &#8211; Mastery and Meaning of Flower Paintings in the Low Countries (1600-1700)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1494\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FLOWERS_COVER_NED_CUT-1494x2000.jpg\" alt=\"Book cover of Forever Flowers by Sven Van Dorst, featuring a richly detailed seventeenth-century flower still life and the subtitle The Art of Flower Painting in the Low Countries (1600&#x2013;1700).\" class=\"wp-image-17204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FLOWERS_COVER_NED_CUT-1494x2000.jpg 1494w, https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FLOWERS_COVER_NED_CUT-897x1200.jpg 897w, https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FLOWERS_COVER_NED_CUT-768x1028.jpg 768w, https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FLOWERS_COVER_NED_CUT-1148x1536.jpg 1148w, https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FLOWERS_COVER_NED_CUT-1530x2048.jpg 1530w, https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FLOWERS_COVER_NED_CUT-scaled.jpg 1913w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1494px) 100vw, 1494px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/shop\/zeven-anjers-zeven-rozen-de-kunst-van-bloemschilderen-in-de-lage-landen-1600-1700\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Order here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the 2025 Colloquium of the Belgian Association of Art Conservators, Sven Van Dorst presented a remarkable discovery from the restoration and technical study of\u00a0Vase of Flowers in a Niche\u00a0by Nicolaes Van Verendael. His research revealed that the artist incorporated real butterfly wings into his painting process, an extraordinary feat of craftsmanship that resonates beautifully with the seventeenth-century fascination for natural study and meticulous detail. Anyone keen to explore the world of flower still lifes, their materials and hidden techniques, will find plenty of unexpected insights in\u00a0Forever Flowers &#8211; Mastery and Meaning of Flower Paintings in the Low Countries (1600-1700).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":17216,"template":"","soort_artikel":[167],"class_list":["post-17217","beleef","type-beleef","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","soort_artikel-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A surprising discovery in Van Verendael\u2019s flower piece - The Phoebus Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Restoration research reveals that Nicolaes Van Verendael incorporated real butterfly wings into his painting Vase of Flowers in a Niche, offering a fascinating insight into seventeenth-century craftsmanship.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phoebusfoundation.org\/en\/beleef\/a-surprising-discovery-in-van-verendaels-flower-piece\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A surprising discovery in Van Verendael\u2019s flower piece - 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