The flowers, which include apple blossom, a crown imperial, poppies, tulips and a rose, are arranged in a characteristically exuberant fashion, spilling onto a stone ledge, and the calligraphic sweep of the composition is particularly well resolved. Such a display of blooms would have appeared impossibly lavish to contemporaries, combining as it does flowers only available at different times of the year. In addition to the exact rendering of individual flower species, the artist demonstrates meticulous verisimilitude in the drops of water on the rose petals and the insects, including butterflies, flies and beetles. The bird’s nest is another characteristic feature of the artist’s compositions. The picture has an illustrious provenance, having belonged to the Baron Schönborn, Wilhelm VIII and Wilhelm IX of Hesse-Cassel, the comte de Pourtalès-Gorgier and the baron de Mecklembourg.