Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750) was lauded during her lifetime for her whimsical, asymmetric compositions and the incredible detail with which she painstakingly painted every minute leaf and petal. She rose through the male-dominated ranks to become court painter to Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, and sold her flower pictures for impressive sums up to 1,200 guilders each. When she died, a volume of poems was published in her honour, with the authors declaring her an ‘art goddess’ whose still lifes would endure for eternity.
Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin,
A Dead Rabbit and a Satchel, circa 1720s
In 1728, Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin (1699-1779) presented two paintings for admittance to the Paris Academy. One was