Jan Pauwel Gillemans the Elder

While this training included drawing, the young Gillemans wished to become a painter and returned to Antwerp after a stay of 7 to 8 years in Liège.

[2][5] His work shows that he was in contact with the circle of Jan Davidszoon de Heem, a Dutch still life painter who was active in Antwerp from the mid-1630s.

[5] Typical characteristics of his work are the studied compositions, beautifully harmonious colours, accurate depictions of various types of fabric and detailed displays of flowers and vegetables in all their diversity.

A representative example in this genre is the Pronk still-life with fruit and a lobster, a lute on a chair, a landscape seen through a colonnade beyond (At Christie's London on 3-4 July 2012, lot 152), which represents a table laden with fruit, a ham, a lobster, a lute on a chair all placed in front of a landscape visible beyond a colonnade.

This signed work shows that in the small format Gillemans preferred narrow views that put the focus on meticulously described objects.

[10] An example of Gillemans' work in this genre is the Garland of Flowers Surrounding a Cartouche Containing an Angel's Head and the Holy Sacrament (Victoria and Albert Museum).

The garland includes thistles, grains, grapes and other flowers and fruit that allude to the Passion of Christ and to the Sacramental bread and wine of the communion which is depicted in the centre of the composition.

[12] This composition contains the typical symbolism of vanitas paintings: a crowned skull, a wilting flower, an hourglass, an empty glass and cup, and a book and money bags (symbolising the futility of mankind's higher and worldly aspirations).