A Collector's Cabinet

Art cabinets belong to the Flemish tradition of “Kunstkamers” (Cabinets of Curiosities) paintings. This genre appeared in Antwerp at the beginning of the 17th century and included paintings of interiors covered in works of art. In fact, it is relatively common to see these paintings portraying collections that actually existed. The artists also liked to depict fictitious cabinets, the fruit of their imagination, which could be based on portrayals of paintings, sculptures and exotic objects belonging to the various collections in Antwerp. These art cabinets were metaphors for know-how, taste and knowledge. The present painting belongs to this category.

There are four other very similar versions of this emblematic work: one belongs to a private Italian collection, another is kept at the Prado in Madrid, a third one, which involves a collaboration with Jan ‘Velvet’ Brueghel for the figures of Albert and Isabella, is in Baltimore, and the last one belongs to the royal collections of England.