Baroque and Still Life Portraits


     The piece that I chose was Still Life with Lobster, Ham, and Fruit created by Jan Davidsz de Heem. During this period still, life portraits were a popular form of art. As not only was it popular, but fruit and other types of food were the most common in this media. The fruit can be represented in a multitude of ways; fertility, youth, or more notably, life. The dinner portrayed is full of life and is fresh, seemingly untouched. However, the food is eaten in this piece, like others before it. It's left a mess and torn to shreds like someone gorged it without thought, finally leaving the rest to rot. Therefore, this now changes our metaphor. Rather than life, this food could represent death and decay. Not just death but it "characterizes the inevitable and undeniable mortality of our presence in the world," (Mark Mitchell, 2016). To simplify, it's a realistic representation of our stance on life. How life can truly be not perfect. 

    This piece can also be connected to the Thirty Year War, which was the longest war with the highest number of casualties. Whether through direct combat or by other methods such as deliberate disease or famine. During this time creating art was not as easy as it is today, however, it was necessary. It is a way to reflect one's fears and emotions onto a canvas without having to use words. Not just that however but the Thirty Year War had an impact on the type of art being produced for the world as well, as religion was heavily impacted at this time. Due to this citizens were now forcefully converted to Roman Catholicism. This piece can also reflect this war as a means of symbolizing that everything is temporary. Both fear and happiness are merely temporary. 

    I mentioned this in a previous blog post, but I love art with introducing dark themes. Although I would not own this piece, I still love the symbolism behind it. How it can tell a story using simple inanimate objects. Everything is temporary and life is not meant to be perfect. The fruit won't stay ripe forever. 


References

-History.com Editors. “Thirty Years' War.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/reformation/thirty-years-war.

- “The Dark Side of the Fruit: Why Still Life Began to Rot in the 19th Century.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 13 Feb. 2012, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2012/feb/13/fruit-still-life-roger-fenton.

- “The Symbolism of Fruit in Art.” The Art Blog by Mark Mitchell, Mark Mitchell, 22 July 2016, https://www.markmitchellpaintings.com/blog/the-symbolism-of-fruit-in-art/.

Comments

  1. AlliOctober 17, 2022 at 7:32 PM

    Jade, I love the symbolization you described in the piece. I think capturing something such as food with such a dramatic underlining meaning adds more to the piece rather than just capturing rot and decay itself. It also relates well with the impactful time period. However, the meaning isn't my favorite part of the painting. My favorite thing about the painting is the colors used throughout the piece. Compared to other works of art from the Baroque period, this painting is full of color and life (or lack thereof).

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  2. Johnna NOctober 17, 2022 at 11:32 PM

    This was a very interesting read Jade! Still Life paintings are one of my favorite types of art just because there is so much to look at within the paintings. A few of my favorite things in the painting are the fruit and the lobster, I would have never thought that they would go so well together. I also love how much life the inanimate fruit can represent wether it's rotting or fresh.

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