Still Life

Around 1600 still life emerged as a significant subject in several European artistic centers, including the Dutch Republic. Pieter Claesz. was a leading painter of a type of still life often described as a “banquet piece,” which featured luxury foods and serving vessels, typically strewn across an elaborately dressed tabletop. These costly goods—like the lemon, olives, sweetmeats, and lace-edged damask tablecloth in this painting—were sometimes depicted in a state of decay to suggest the transitory nature of coveted earthly things. The well-preserved items here instead celebrate wealth and its lavish display.