Combining science and art, scientific knowledge of the natural world and a perfect mastering of metalwork techniques, our flower vase stands among some of the highest achievements of creative invention from Renaissance Europe and is a rare surviving example from a princely collection of natural and artificial wonders or Kunstkammer. The level of detail is astonishing, and it is hardly believable how the master goldsmith was able to cast in such fine detail the most minute features of these natural flowers. The fully intended deception of the senses, alongside the feeling of awe, is in fact one of the reasons behind the creation of such wondrously realistic depictions of nature during the Renaissance, which served as true "epistemic" objects. Other reasons included the proud display of the goldsmith`s own powers of creation, his ability to imitate nature, not only while producing an accurate depiction of nature, but also while being able to completely master the secret processes of smelting and metallurgy (and of alchemy) necessary to recreate nature and fully understand the generative processes by which nature itself creates.