Roses, carnations, a tulip, and other flowers in a glass vase, with a butterfly on a wooden tabletop; and Roses, carnations, and other flowers in a glass vase, with a fly on a wooden tabletop

Frans Ykens was the nephew and pupil of the pioneering still-life painter Osias Beert I, and was also inspired by the art of Daniel Seghers and Jan Philip van Thielen. He traveled to Provence, staying at Aix-en-Marseille, and upon his return to Antwerp around 1630 was admitted to the painters' guild. Ykens built a long and successful career in Antwerp, where his work was admired and collected by patrons as well as by other artists, including his slightly older contemporary Peter Paul Rubens, whose inventory lists six of Ykens' flower-pieces. This elegant pair is characteristic of Ykens' work, which consists predominantly of flower still lifes and features the glass vases seen here on more than one occasion.