Alexander Coosemans

Here he worked on commissions for the Doria-Pamphili-Landi and reportedly contributed still life elements of fruit and flowers for decorative paintings by Pasquale Chiesa in the Palazzo del Principe (also called 'villa di Andrea Doria') in Genoa and the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome.

He also preferred dramatic light effects in artificial settings which contrasts with de Heem's use of harmonious colour patterns and subtle tonalities to create an illusion of naturalness.

For instance, in the Still life on a partly draped table the various objects convey hidden meanings: the grapes and the glass of red wine refer to Christ and his blood, the bread references the Last Supper of Christ and the Christian communion and the silver vessel looks like a ciborium that holds the consecrated hosts during the Catholic Mass.

Garland paintings are a type of still life invented in Antwerp and whose earliest practitioner was Jan Brueghel the Elder.

An example is A sculpted bust in a niche surrounded with swags of fruit (Christie's on 1 April 2008 in Amsterdam, lot 151) of which it is not known who the collaborating artist is.

Another example of this genre is the Fruits surrounding a niche with a crucifix (Cornette de Saint Cyr, Bertrand, -10-25 October 2013, Paris).

[10] Another collaborative effort of Coosemans is the composition Double Portrait of a boy and a girl as Cupid and Ceres next to a Stil life of fruits and flowers (Sotheby's on 28 January 2010 in New York, lot 279).