The flower painter Daniel Seghers specialised in decorative works with religious motifs framed by virtuoso naturalistic flowers. The image of Mary in trompe l’oeil was probably painted by Erasmus Quellinus the Younger, a common form of artistic collaboration in 17th-century Antwerp. Some of the flowers, such as the roses, symbolise Mary’s virtues. Seghers was a Jesuit, and most of his paintings were used by the Jesuit Order as diplomatic gifts.