In 1693, Rachel Ruysch married a fellow Amsterdam painter, Juraien Pool. While women of her acquaintance sewed and spun, she worked as a flower painter, had 10 children, and produced commissions for patrons across Europe. Ruysch’s still lifes are distinguished by playful composition and a brilliant palette. Her arrangements, often asymmetrical, balance drooping stems and bursts of color, and she crafted each petal painstakingly against a dark background. Ruysch had a rare advantage: her father was a botanist. Consequently, her flora and fauna are so precise they look alive. By the time Ruysche died, in 1750, she was renowned. An exhibition of her finest paintings, 35 of them, now comes to Boston. It’s the Dutch Golden Age at its most glorious. —Elena Clavarino