Pausias and Glycera
Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640)
Artist: Flowers by Osias Beert (Flemish, c. 1580-1624)
Date: c. 1612-1615
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, United States
Description
Glycera was an ancient Greek woman known for her skill at making floral wreaths of which her lover, Pausias, made exceptionally realistic paintings. Their relationship has come to represent the rivalry between nature and art. Which is more beautiful: Glycera's flowers or Pausias's paintings of them? The friendly competition between the ancient artisans is repeated in this work, in which the viewer is asked to compare the skills of Rubens, who painted the figures, with those of Beert, who painted the floral still lifes.
