Andries Danielsz.


Andries Danielsz. was a Flemish painter of flower still lifes who played an important role in the development of the genre of garland paintings Antwerp.

Life

Little is known about his life. In 1599 he is registered at the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as a pupil of Pieter Brueghel the Younger. He may have participated in copying works of Pieter Brueghel the Elder during his period of apprenticeship. In 1602 he was registered as a master of the Guild.
He executed a joint will with his wife Jozijnke van der Hoerst on 25 July 1640, which is the last record of his life.

Work

General

Daniels is known as a painter of still lifes, in particular still lifes of flowers in flamboyant vases, and flower garlands. Not many of his works are known and only in the 1950s–1960s was he rediscovered.
Andries Daniels' work resembles the paintings of Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder to whom previously they were attributed frequently. The composition, colour and lighting, however, call to mind the work of Jan Brueghel the Elder, who was also famous for his flower still lifes.

Garland paintings

Daniels played a role in the development of the genre of garland paintings. Garland paintings are a special type of still life developed in Antwerp by artists such as Jan Brueghel the Elder, Hendrick van Balen, Frans Francken the Younger, Peter Paul Rubens and Daniel Seghers. They typically show a flower garland around a devotional image or portrait. This genre was inspired by the cult of veneration and devotion to Mary prevalent at the Habsburg court and in Antwerp generally.
Garland paintings were usually collaborations between a still life and a figure painter. Daniels collaborated with other artists such as Frans Francken the Younger and Jacob Jordaens, who would paint the devotional images while Daniels painted the flowers and flower garlands in the picture.
Together with Frans Francken, he further developed the genre of garland paintings, creating many special forms, among them garlands around medallions with the decades of the rosary.
An example of a collaborative garland painting he made with Jacob Jordaens is the Garland of Flowers with Virgin and Child in the Hermitage Museum.