Still Life with Vessels. Zurbarán

On the left side of the picture is a tray with a wide silver cup, but it looks golden.

Next to the cup is a clay container used for cooling water.

The following is an Indian vase,

and on the right, another tray with a clay container similar to the one before.

An Indian vase is a ceramic vessel from America where people stored perfumed water.

The light in this painting is very important because it highlights the colours and shapes of the objects.

This painting transmits silence and calmness because it seems like time stands still.

The objects do not have shadows.

Each object seems unique.

The objects are not perfectly aligned and slightly turned to give more volume.

We can also tell that these objects belonged to a wealthy and high-class family because few people could afford them then.

This painting is different from other still lifes of the 17 century in Spain because there is no clear reference to the passage of time.

There are no flowers, food, clocks, or skulls that make us think about how time affects people, nature, and the objects around us.

Nothing changes in this painting.

Many art historians studied this still life, and it inspired poets and scholars.

Zurbarán set an example for painting still lifes in Spain.

He wanted to move away from the richness of Italian still lifes, the splendour of Dutch still lifes, and the excessive French decoration.

It seems that Zurbarán painted this picture slowly and deliberately, giving attention to each object.

A nearly identical version of this painting is in a museum in Catalunya.

Zurbarán is the author of that version as well.

Francisco Cambó, a politician and lawyer, donated both paintings, one to the Museo d’Art de Catalunya and the other to the Prado Museum in 1940.