Balthasar van der Ast, Still life with a striped tulip in a glass vase, 1625. Mauritshuis, Netherlands.

'Broken' tulips with flamed petals were incredibly popular in the 17th century. That's why you hardly ever see solid-colored tulips in paintings from that time. They just didn't know back then that the 'flames' on the tulip were the result of a viral infection. As a result, not the same tulip would bloom from a bulb every year.

On one of the petals, there's a butterfly, a blue one. On the other side, next to the vase, there's a fat housefly. Where the butterfly often symbolizes renewal and reincarnation, the housefly refers to death and decay. The fly reminds us of the inevitable withering of the tulip, but the butterfly offers us hope. Every year a new flower blooms from the tulip bulb.

Two very significant themes for such a small and charming painting!