Rijksmuseum Amsterdam acquires Masterpiece by Maria van Oosterwijck

Maria van Oosterwijck, one of the most important Dutch women painters of the 17th century, is renowned for her flower still lifes. The Rijksmuseum had the opportunity to acquire this painting in 2023. The religious connotations of the work make it one of the artist’s most deeply personal works. For Van Oosterwijck, the still life was a testament to her unwavering faith.

After acquiring the painting, the Rijksmuseum examined and restored it. The masterpiece will be presented for the first time in the museum on 4 March 2025, prior to the Women in the Museum symposium. The acquisition was made possible through support from the Friends’ Lottery (Vriendenloterij) and the Women of the Rijksmuseum Fund.

Maria van Oosterwijck (1630-1693) is one of the most important female Dutch painters of the 17th century, alongside Judith Leyster and Rachel Ruysch. She was one of the few 17th-century Dutch artists to achieve international fame for flower still lifes during her lifetime. Her impressive roster of clients included the ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV of France, King Jan III Sobieski of Poland, Cosimo III de' Medici of Tuscany, and Emperor Leopold of Austria. Van Oosterwijck left a relatively small oeuvre, perhaps due to her approach to painting: one contemporary wrote that she took her time with her paintings because of the “neatness and elaborateness” of her painting practice.

Van Oosterwijck specialised in flower still lifes, and a bouquet of flowers has a central role in the recently acquired ‘vanitas’ painting, a work of art that urges the viewer to reflect on the vanity of worldly life in the light of approaching death. She depicted a variety of other objects in the painting, including a Bible, a skull, a jewellery box and two tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. These elements convey profound religious significance, and the work occupies a crucial place in her body of work. The artist grew up in a devout environment – both her father and her grandfather were church ministers – and according to a contemporary she was ‘extraordinarily religious’ herself. It is notable that Van Oosterwijck explains the meaning of the picture on the sheet of paper in the foreground.

The painting underwent detailed examination following its purchase in 2023, revealing that Van Oosterwijck made an exceptionally large number of changes during the painting process. Examples of these changes include her overpainting of an hourglass and of a fully completed snake crawling in through the opening in the wall. Once the research was completed, restoration began. This process included the removal of yellowed varnish and overpainting from earlier restorations. The painting has now been returned, as close as possible, to its original state.

Main Image:Maria van Oosterwijck, Vanitas Still Life, c. 1690 Acquired with support from the VriendenLoterij and the 'Women of the Rijksmuseum' Fund 78.6 cm x 103.5 cm