Designed with college and university students and faculty in mind, this resource draws on the exhibition, “Rachel Ruysch: Artist, Naturalist, and Pioneer,” as a source for teaching and learning across disciplines.

At first glance, Rachel Ruysch’s paintings dazzle—opulent bouquets brimming with exotic blooms, their petals shimmering in soft light. But look closer. Scattered among the lush abundance are clues that point to something darker. Roses bow under their own weight, leaves grow limp and yellow, and a blue lizard crouches, ready to snatch a fly. These are not mere embellishments; they hint at the decay lurking beneath the surface of beauty.

The Dutch artist Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750) was one of the most celebrated still-life painters of her time. In an era when few women gained artistic recognition, her work was highly prized by collectors across Europe. Her talent ultimately earned her the prestigious position of court artist to Johann Wilhelm, a powerful territorial ruler in Germany. Immersed in Amsterdam’s thriving network of horticulturalists, Ruysch had unique access to rare plants from across the globe. Rather than merely documenting these species, she blended art and nature in arrangements that are both precise and imaginative.

Though renowned in her own lifetime, Ruysch’s fame largely faded after her death. This exhibition marks the first-ever retrospective of her work. Her paintings appear alongside highlights from Harvard’s natural history collections, intertwining the visual beauty of art with the scientific marvels of nature. We invite you to immerse yourself in Ruysch’s extraordinary paintings and discover the fascinating stories woven among the petals, leaves, and butterfly wings.

Themes

• Emerging Sciences
• Nature
• Still Life Painting
• Self-Portraiture
• Women Artists in the Eighteenth Century

Discussion Questions

Look closely at Rachel Ruysch’s portrait.

• What elements suggest the artist’s role in portraying the relationship between art and nature?
• What is the relevance of the botanical drawing in the foreground?
• In what ways can art help advance scientific research? How has that relationship changed or evolved over time?

Commentary

Bert van de Roemer, “Art is Human Added to Nature,” Rachel Ruysch:

If there is something that both unites and characterizes the work of Rachel Ruysch and her father, the famous physician and anatomist Frederik Ruysch, it is the maxim ‘Art is human added to nature,’ first stated by the English philosopher Frances Bacon. Although daughter and father are nowadays mostly associated with different pursuits, painting and medicine respectively, these words help exemplify how the two fields were considered more closely related in their era.

Themes

• Still Life Painting and Nature
• Woman Artists in the Eighteenth Century

Discussion Questions

Compare Anna’s work, Flowers in a Glass Vase on a Stone Table Ledge, and Rachel’s works, including the painting below.

• Where do you see similarities and differences in the works they created?
• What might those similarities and differences suggest?

Commentary

Antien Knaap, Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Curator of Paintings, Art of Europe, Museum of Fine Arts Boston:

Rachel Ruysch was the oldest of seven children. At age 15 or 16, she trained under Amsterdam’s leading still-life painter, Willem van Aelst (1627–1683). Rachel’s younger sister, Anna (1666 – 1754), also painted flower arrangements. Less is known about Anna and only 12 paintings are securely attributed to her. The two sisters worked closely together. Like Rachel, Anna may have studied with Van Aelst. Anna copied works by Rachel and painted close variants, possibly to provide additional stock for her sister’s workshop. At age 21, Anna married the paint dealer Isaak Hellenbroek (1664– 1749), and gave up painting, most likely to work in her husband’s shop. Rachel married at age 29 to portrait painter Juriaen Pool (1665–1745), who advertised her work and may have acted as her agent. The stories of Rachel and Anna Ruysch highlight the divergent career paths of women artists in the seventeenth-century.

Themes

• Still Life Painting
• Science and Art

Discussion Questions

Look closely at An Arrangement of Flowers by a Tree Trunk.

• Where do you see differences between Ruysch’s forest floor work and more traditional still life work?
• What natural elements are included or left out of each?

Commentary

Marianne Berardi, “The Artful Nature of Rachel Ruysch: What Distinguishes Her Painted World,” Rachel Ruysch:

Early in her career, Ruysch devoted her time to painting a subgenre of still life known as the ‘nature piece’ or ‘forest floor,’ something Van Aelst would have introduced to her along with other varieties of fruit and flower compositions as part of her training repertoire. The paintings feature wild and/or cultivated plants growing in lugubrious woodland settings, often with messy foregrounds, brackish ponds, and dead trees, and populated by a host of reptiles, insects, and amphibians preying upon each other.

Themes

• Colonialism
• Global Trade in the Early Modern World

Discussion Questions

• How do Ruysch’s still life paintings depicting global species both accurately reflect and editorialize botany and the Dutch empire?
• How does she combine visual fiction and reality?

Commentary

Charles C. Davis, “Painting the Botanical World,” Rachel Ruysch:

Modern biodiversity science is occupied with understanding both the patterns and the processes of how species biodiversity arose in our planet. These include not only where species live in nature, but also what factors best explain this diversity. Rachel Ruysch’s paintings represent a vehicle for better elucidating and interpreting the complicated histories of certain species, while revealing key insights about her life and the larger scientific milieu in which she approached her botanical subjects.

The drive largely by European botanists to cultivate the known flora of the world, the powerful maritime empire of the Dutch, and the extraordinary ability of botanists and horticulturalists to cultivate plants of tropical climates in the Netherlands were all essential to Ruysch’s success.

Map

This map shows where the plants in Still Life of Exotic Flowers on a Marble Ledge (about 1750) originated. Light shaded areas mark the natural ranges of 21 featured species, highlighted in the diagram by letters a–u. These plants reflect the global reach of the Dutch overseas empire, spanning colonies and trading posts in North and South America, West and South Africa, and Southeast Asia. Dutch naturalists regularly depended on Indigenous knowledge to identify many of these species, though such contributions were rarely credited at the time.

Map produced by the Charles Davis Lab, Harvard University.

1. Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans)
2. Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
3. Wingstem (Verbesina alata)
4. Creeping cactus (Opuntia repens)
5. Devil’s trumpet (Datura metel)
6. West Indian lantana (Lantana camara)
7. Snail vine (Cochliasanthus caracalla)
8. Blue passionflower (Passiflora caerulea)
9. Dwarf morning glory (Convolvulus tricolor)
10. Oleander (Nerium oleander)
11. Bitter melon (Momordica charantia)
12. Long-tubed painted lady (Gladiolus grantii)
13. Rat’s tail (Babiana ringens)
14. Bracted milkwort (Polygala bracteolata)
15. Carrion flower (Orbea variegata)
16. Antique spurge (Euphorbia antiquorum)
17. Arabian jasmine (Jasminum sambac)
18. Ceylon swamp lily (Crinum zeylanicum)
19. Flame lily (Gloriosa superba)
20. Musk mallow (Abelmoschus moschatus)
21. Persian lilac (Melia azedarach)

Themes

• Dutch Art Market
• Woman Artists in the Eighteenth Century

Discussion Questions

• Ruysch painted many types of still lifes and often paired flower and fruit arrangements; in what ways does Posy of Flowers with a Beetle on a Stone Ledge suggest her evolution as an artist?
• How and why was Ruysch able to afford to take some artistic risks?

Commentary

Antien Knaap, Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Curator of Paintings, Art of Europe, Museum of Fine Arts Boston:

The 1700s and 1710s were a highly successful period for Ruysch. In 1701, at age 37, she became the first woman to be admitted to the painting society, Confrerie Pictura, in The Hague, with her husband Juriaen Pool. Her career reached its highpoint in 1708 when she was appointed court painter to Johann Wilhelm (1658–1716), Elector Palatine in Düsseldorf, Germany, and his wife, Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici (1667–1743). This appointment was extraordinary for any artist at the time, and even more exceptional for a woman.

In her final decade, Ruysch’s brilliance was still widely recognized. Just a year before her death, 11 poets wrote tributes to her accomplishments. The following year, writer Johan van Gool praised her as an ‘art heroine’ and ‘Holland’s artistic marvel.’ But what truly set Ruysch apart was not just her social achievements—it was the quiet power, intricate beauty, and striking biodiversity of her work that enabled her to surpass even the greatest still-life painters of her time, regardless of gender.

Related Publication

Please reach out to the CNA directly at [email protected] if you would like to assign readings from the publication and you have difficulty obtaining the book, or any of the essays, through your school’s library system.

Related Multimedia Resources

From the “Rachel Ruysch: Artist, Naturalist, Pioneer” Exhibition

Painting the Botanical World

Conversation with Charles Davis, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and Antien Knaap, Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Curator of Paintings, Art of Europe

Creature Feature: Rachel Ruysch and the Forest Floor

Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology: Chrystal Meyer and Stevie Kennedy Gold

From the MFA/CNA collection and database

The Hidden Cost of Luxury

Description: MFA Video, 0:05:39 run-time

Osias Beert’s Still Life with Various Vessels on a Table (about 1610) exudes decadence, but what lies behind ornate display of pewter, oysters, blue-and-white porcelain, and sugary sweets? In this five-minute video, hear from Antien Knaap, assistant curator of Paintings, Art of Europe; and Mary Hicks, assistant professor of History at the University of Chicago, as they explore the impact of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade on 17th-century Dutch society—and how it manifested in art from the period. Video © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Themes: Global Materials and Commodities in the Early Modern World; Considering Race and Colonialism in Dutch Art

Where Dutch Art and Scientific Innovation Meet

Description: MFA Boston – Art of Europe Lecture video, 1:02:33 run-time

How can Dutch art from the 17th century propel conversations and inspire new ways of thinking, creating, and innovating? The Dutch have a long history of being inventors: from the microscope to Wi-Fi, Dutch inventions have helped build the modern world as we know it. Join a conversation between panelists from the art and the science worlds exploring how creation, invention, and innovation are related and necessary for growth to occur, and look at the roles the Netherlands and Greater Boston have played in creating and inventing through the centuries.

Themes: Emerging Sciences, Nature, and Philosophy in the Netherlands

Co-presented by the Center for Netherlandish Art and Netherlands Innovation Network. Perry Chapman, professor emerita of Art History, University of Delaware Amito Haarhuis, Director at Rijksmuseum Boerhaave Kasper Roet, CEO of QurAlis

Moderated by Sarah Mastrangelo, Cunningham Associate Conservator in Painting, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Art Museums and the Legacies of the Dutch Slave Trade

Description: Four-part lecture series, videos; 1:59:22, 2:13:57, 1:22:15, and 1:39:57 run-times (parts 1-4)

Recorded April 2021, this program is organized by the Center for Netherlandish Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Harvard Art Museums, and Harvard University’s Department of History of Art and Architecture.

This four-part program explores efforts by art museums to deploy their spaces and their collections—which are often enmeshed with colonialism and exploitation—to present more complete narratives of and perspectives on slavery and its legacies.

Themes: Considering Race and Colonialism in Dutch Art

Globalization and Netherlandish Art

Description: MFA Boston CNA lecture video, 1:23:43 run-time

Dutch and Flemish works of art often illuminate complex histories of globalization. Examine how the impact of colonialism, and the transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans on 17th-century Dutch society manifests in art from this period. Also learn about the newly-opened Center for Netherlandish Art and the expanded and reinterpreted galleries featuring this collection.

Themes: Considering Race and Colonialism in Dutch Art; Global Trade in the Early Modern World

Speakers: Dr. Christopher Atkins, Van Otterloo-Weatherbie Director, Center for Netherlandish Art, and Dr. Antien Knaap, Assistant Curator, Art of Europe

Moderators: Dalia Habib Linssen, Senior Director of Academic Engagement and Emily Scheinberg, Head of Educator Resources and Professional Development

Symbolism and Meaning in Dutch Still-Life Painting

Description: CNA x SmartHistory video, 0:04:54 run-time

Themes: Artists’ Working Methods in the 1600s

Presenters: Dr. Christopher D.M. Atkins and Dr. Steven Zucker

The Dutch Art Market in the 17th Century

Description: CNA x SmartHistory video, 0:04:27 run-time

Themes: Global Materials and Commodities in the Early Modern World; Global Trade; Artists’ Working Methods in the 1600s

Presenters: Dr. Christopher D.M. Atkins and Dr. Beth Harris

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