Gaspar Pieter Verbrugghen

Gaspar Pieter Verbrugghen wasn’t some fancy court painter—he ran a busy workshop in Brussels where apprentices churned out flower wreaths for the city’s churches. He’d paint the garlands himself, stacking petals so thick they look ready to topple off the canvas. That’s the trick: his flowers look alive, not stuck in a book. Spot his lush *Cunună de flori* from 1675 if you stroll past the old guild halls in Brussels; the roses practically smell like Sunday morning.