Still Life with Meadow Flowers and Roses

painting

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July 21, 2026

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The painting Still Life with Meadow Flowers and Roses (1886) is housed in the Kr\u00f6ller-M\u00fcller State Museum in the Netherlands. Initially acquired in 1974, its attribution to Vincent van Gogh was confirmed through X-ray technology and archival research. This technique revealed van Gogh's characteristic pigment use and brushstrokes, identifying an earlier painting of two wrestlers beneath the still life. Van Gogh mentioned this figure study in a letter to his brother, Theo.1

Still life paintings, particularly floral arrangements, were popular in Dutch society, with artists like Jan Davidsz de Heem and Rachel Ruysch being notable figures in this genre. These works often featured insects to enhance naturalism and could also carry symbolic meanings, such as the vanitas theme, referencing the emptiness of life.23

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Kröller-Müller State Museum
The painting, Still Life with Meadow Flowers and Roses (1886), had been executed on top of a rendering of two wrestlers, visible in high-definition X-rays taken of the work. Though the wrestlers had been detected by X-ray before, a new technique called macro scanning X-ray fluorescence spectrometry…
Read More
The painting, Still Life with Meadow Flowers and Roses (1886), had been executed on top of a rendering of two wrestlers, visible in high-definition X-rays taken of the work. Though the wrestlers had been detected by X-ray before, a new technique called macro scanning X-ray fluorescence spectrometry…
Read More