Loading...
In addition to the Roemer goblet, other glasses common in this kind of monochrome still life presented here include the Berkemeyer, in this case tipped over and broken, and the delicate Façon-de-Venise wineglass, in fashion at the time and likewise made in the Netherlands. Also featured is an exquisitely decorated silver goblet. Alongside them is a knife with a sheath and an open clock that
This highly original still life presents various oysters in the fore and middle grounds—a relatively infrequent element in Meléndez’s paintings. The foreground is completed by some cloves of garlic and a decorated ceramic plate, probably from Talavera. Behind them, the powerful volume of an enormous copper pot vies for the leading role in this composition. It is tilted, as one edge rests on
This is a singular example of David Teniers´ indoor scenes. The kitchen or tavern utensils so common in his other works are completed here with a magnificent show of diverse fruit and vegetables. This converts the right part of the composition into a still life. On the left, a character shells mussels, a traditional foodstuff in the Low Countries, while another group works beside the fireplace. Th
On 14 February 1612 Juan Bautista Maíno signed the contract to execute the paintings for the monastery church of San Pedro Mártir in Toledo. Maíno agreed to a period of eight months to make the paintings, which had to portray the scenes and episodes specified by the prior of the monastery. Despite the agreement reached in the contract, the paintings were not completed until De
This canvas by a late 17th-century painter is part of a group of four works, all at the Museo del Prado (P191, P3196, P3197 and P3198), that express the idea of the Elements through motives drawn from classical mythology. According to R. López Torrijos (1985), Water is embodied here by Ocean’s sister and wife, Thetis, who was queen of the seas. A crown and scepter underline her royal charac
Some limes, laid out with the artist's habitual disorder, occupy almost half the canvas. Behind them, a honey pot of the popular green-glazed type from Biar or Lucena shows the painter's eye for detail. In the background, a box of jelly lies open on a castañuela plate. Behind it, a silver or pewter saucer holds a Tonalá type Mexican ceramic cup. The butterfly hovering over it all is interesting fo
Depictions of painting galleries became popular in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century. The exhibition of paintings and other artistic or natural objects was originally a way of manifesting the high social standing of an eminently bourgeois class with a strong desire to ennoble itself. In many cases, the paintings did not rigorously reflect the client’s collection, but served inst
An intensely sensual female nude that presents the figure in the form of a pearl enclosed in its box, the ocean, which may be an allusion to the birth of Venus. Presented at the Paris Salon of 1863, this work was one of the most appreciated female nudes of Second Empire Paris, despite the strong criticism it received as an exultantly erotic work lacking any moral modesty. Its first owner was the E
The painting belongs to the type of still life designated by Vroom as monochrome banketjes, pieces first executed by Heda towards the end of the 1620s that became very popular in the Netherlands and abroad, as illustrated by the fact that there were two in the inventory of Rubens´s property. There are sufficient grounds to interpret these compositions as moralising, religious or allegorical works.
These are sketches for the frescoes adorning the main altar of the chapel in the Palace of Aranjuez. The brilliant, highly detailed technique reveals the lingering influence of the Italian, Corrado Giaquinto. Angels bear symbols which allude to the purity of the Virgin: the mirror without blemish reflecting eternal light, and a bunch of white lilies and an open oyster with a pearl as symbols of th
This panel is by an anonymous Hispano-Flemish painter active in Burgos and Palencia who was influenced by Diego de la Cruz and the Master of Los Balbases. His name derives from his best known work, the Altarpiece of the Visitation in Palencia Cathedral. The apostle can be identified by the inscription on his halo and his attributes: the pilgrim’s staff, water gourd, hat and cockle shells. In his l
This canvas and its companion, Taste, Hearing and Touch (P1404), represent the five senses embodied by female figures in palatial interiors. The sense of smell is conveyed by a woman holding flowers, while Sight contemplates herself in a mirror held by a cherub. They are located in a hall filled with paintings and sculptures, a sort of cabinet of paintings that could reflect an idealized represent
Giuseppe Recco, a member of one of the most famous families of Neapolitan still-life painters in the seventeenth century, was born in Naples on 12 July 1634. His vast output was consistently high in quality and is characterised by a marked cultural eclecticism, taking in a number of different still-life styles, from Spanish to northern European to Roman, with an unusual iconographic versatility.In
The great charm of this still life has evidently long been apparent to lovers of painting, since it is first recorded in the collection of Gaspar de Haro, later VII Marqués del Carpio (1651), who was one of the most distinguished aristocratic picture collectors of his day. Its size is clearly a factor; the intimate scale is particularly alluring. Indeed, the appeal to collectors of small st
The dinner guests occupying the center of the composition symbolize the senses. Music and the singing children are hearing, and the young woman petting a mink is touch. The young woman preparing to eat some oysters symbolizes taste, while the monkey pulling on a cupid´s hair also symbolizes touch. Of equal significance are the animals and paintings in the room. The Annunciation on the top of the c
In a room open to a landscape is a table with various foodstuffs, along with metalwork, dishes and even a pipe. The placement of numerous objects on a broad wooden surface is customary in works by Jan Davidsz de Heem (1606-1683/1684), to whom this work was first attributed. It had previously been considered the work of Benedetti through comparison with his other still lifes. The casual aspect offe
