The Precision of Decay To look at the work of Ottmar Elliger is to confront the deliberate mechanics of the Baroque. He did not merely paint flowers; he documented the inevitable decline of organic matter with a clinical, sharp-edged clarity. While his contemporaries often sought purely decorative results, Elliger utilized the textures of bruised fruit and insect damage to ground his compositions in a harsh reality. His skill lay in the tension between the lushness of a petal and the rot beneath it. His technical foundation was built in Antwerp under the guidance of Daniel Seghers. This tra…