Flowers in a Vase

Six of these round canvases sit above the entrance doors of the Golden Room, each almost 90 centimetres across. In 1718 nobody called the room golden. It was the Groote Beneden Sale, the great hall on the lower floor, and its walls and ceiling were painted light grey, with gold leaf and brass leaf picking out the ornament. The gilded look you see today dates only from 1951. In this roundel the flowers spread outwards like a garland and trail down on both sides of the ledge, and at the upper right a red and white flamed tulip opens wide.