A single hand for eternal flowers Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750) was a Dutch painter renowned for her floral still lifes. From an early age, she painted the flowers and insects from her father’s botanical collection, developing extraordinary precision. At 15, she became the apprentice of Willem van Aelst and learned to create compositions that felt both realistic and full of life. Her career, spanning more than six decades, earned her international fame and made her the best-documented female painter