Johannes Bosschaert was introduced to the profession of painting at a young age by his father, Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573-1621). In his very short life, he painted various flower and fruit pieces that were praised for their high quality, all painted between 1623 and 1628. His style is characterized by the exactitude of his drawings and the bright, radiant colours. His paintings have a smooth, almost enamelled, surface. As with Saverij’s flower arrangement with the crown imperial, this spectacular flower also dominates this bouquet. The crown imperial originated in Persia. The interest in exotic flowers arose in the sixteenth century. By the seventeenth century, ornamental gardens featured almost exclusively exotic plants, most from Southern Europe and Asia Minor.