Studie van twee tulpen 1677 - 1755

Elias van Nijmegen made this watercolor study of two tulips sometime between 1667 and 1755. It was a period in the Netherlands known as the Dutch Golden Age, but it was also the end of 'Tulip Mania.' The tulip, introduced from Turkey, became a status symbol. Its exotic beauty captured the imagination of a society flush with new global trade, particularly with the East. Prices soared, fortunes were made and lost, until the market crashed in 1637. Van Nijmegen renders the flowers with delicate precision. The yellow and red flames of the larger bloom contrast with the more contained, purplish bud beside it. There is a sense of melancholy and introspection, a memento mori, which perhaps reflects a society sobering up after the excesses of speculation. These tulips, so desired and so fleeting, remind us of the transience of beauty and wealth. The image encourages us to reflect on the emotional ties we forge with objects of desire, and the stories they tell about who we are.