Willem van Aelst

Willem van Aelst (16 May 1627 – buried 22 May 1683)[1] was a Dutch Golden Age artist who specialized in still-life painting with flowers or game.

In 1649 Van Aelst travelled to Florence, where he served as court painter to Ferdinando II de' Medici, grand duke of Tuscany.

Ferdinando II publicly presented Van Aelst with a gold chain and medal, as a testimony of his approbation and an acknowledgement of his talents.

This conjecture is based, not very convincingly, on his practice during the years 1657/58 to sign his works with his name followed by: ‘alias (and a drawn stick figure)'.

Some interpreted this as a reference to a Bent name (the nickname that a member of the Bentvueghels would adopt) – De Vogelverschrikker (Dutch for 'scarecrow') – but there are no documents confirming this.