On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P02803
- Author
- Zurbarán, Francisco de (Spanish)
- Title
- Still Life
- Chronology
- Ca. 1660
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 46 cm x 84 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- No
- Entrance
- DONACION
- Procedence
- Donation by Francisco de Asís Cambó, 1940
Four vessels of different shapes,
one metal and the other three of
earthenware, appear in a line on a
shelf over a neutral background.
The vessels at each end sit on
metal trays.
This extraordinarily
straightforward composition makes
light the absolute protagonist, as
that is what individualizes each
object. The fact that the vessels
don't cast their shadows onto each
other indicates that the painter
depicted them one by one, in order
of appearance, approaching this
work in stages focused on each
recipient, rather than painting it
all at once.
Zurbarán painted very few still
lifes and here he explores pure
painterly technique, its textures
and esthetic pleasures, without
giving the work a secondary,
time-related meaning. This is
different than other still lifes,
which tned to include dead flowers,
clocks, skulls or foodstuffs
alluding to the passage of
time.
An nearly identical version, which
also belonged to the collection of
Francisco de Asís Cambó, is at the
Museum of Art of Catalonia.
Listen to the
audioguide