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Flower still life
Prince Rupert of the Rhine

Simon Pietersz Verelst (1644–1721?) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He is known for outstanding flower and fruit still life paintings.[1]

Biography

Verelst was born in The Hague. He was the son of Pieter Harmensz Verelst and became a pupil in the Confrerie Pictura at the same time as his brother Herman in 1663.[1] In 1668 he moved to London and on 11 April 1669 he met with Samuel Pepys. His elegant portraits became popular for a time during the 1670s among court circles.[2] He painted this portrait of Prince Rupert, son of Frederick V, Count Palatine and Elizabeth Stuart. It seems Verelst began to suffer from bouts of insanity, which was reflected in a portrait with flowers on a gigantic scale, who called himself "the God of Flowers". In 1709, according to Weyerman, he lived down the Strand, London at the art dealer William Lovejoy,[3] who had him locked up for his bouts of unbridled aggression.[4]

Family tree

Pieter Hermansz Verelst 1618–1678
Herman Verelst 1641–1702Simon Pietersz Verelst 1644–1721?John Verelst 1648–1734
Cornelis Verelst 1667?–1734Maria Verelst 1680–1744William Verelst 1704–1752

References

1 Annotation

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Simon Verelst, a specialist in flower painting who also painted portraits of the King and members of his immediate circle. He seems to have been extremely successful and to have owed much to the patronage of the Duchess of Portsmouth and the Duke of Buckingham. Pepys's reference here (4/11/1669) appears to constitute the earliest evidence of Verelst's presence in London.

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References

Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.

1669