In seventeenth-century Holland, art collectors sometimes kept their paintings behind a curtain that protected them from light and dirt, and showed how prized they were. Imagine the surprise of a viewer who pulled away the real curtain, only to find another curtain that partially hides the flowers in a still life—a trompe-l’oeil, or “fool the eye,” effect. The realistic curtain was painted by van Mieris, and van der Spelt included a lesson in botany and zoology in the still life: the flowers range from buds to wilted blossoms, and insects are seen in both the caterpillar and butterfly stage—a reference to the cycle of life from infancy to old age.
