Still life Painting in the Baroque
The tradition of still life painting has been around since antiquity, and example of this form of paintings can be found in almost every culture. The popularity of still life is emense, making it very hard to understand why many through out the history of art have excluded it from the category of high arts. This exclusion began when Andre Felibien (1619-1695) a theoretican at the French Academy established a hierarchy of painting. In this hierarchy history and religious painting were the highest style of painting, while portraiture, scenes of everyday life, animal paintings, landscapes and still life were considered to only be minor forms of art.[i] These minor form of art none the less were executed by highly talented artists, using sophisticated techniques that could match any of the artists creating pieces in the more highly regarded fields of history and religious paintings. The artists who chose to create still life paintings, carefully selected, studied, grouped, and depicted the objects in their works in order to present to their viewer highly realistic images. These works even though the theorists viewed the still life as the lowest form of painting, they were highly popular among members of all social classes and were purchased at extremely high prices.[ii]
Through the stories of Zeuxis and Parrhasius both ancient masters of art, art historians are able to see the development of artists desires to paint highly realistic and illusionistic images.[iii] The artists of the seventeenth century strove to follow the lead of these ancient masters when depicting objects within their own works of art. These artists who chose to create still life paintings, carefully selected, studied, grouped, and depicted the objects in their works in order to present to their viewer highly realistic images. Masters of still life from Flanders, France, Italy, Holland and Spain painted baskets holding fruit, flower pieces, musical instruments, tables covered with food including dead fish and game, and vessels used in the household. These objects were painted Ònot only painted with the utmost realism but with all the dedication and seriousness that had once been reserved for the human form.Ó[iv]
The Italian artist Caravaggio (1573-1610) created several works that can be included in the genre of still life painting. He is said to have told an early patron of his that, Òit took as much craftsmanship for him to paint a picture of flowers as one of figures.Ó[v] In his painting Boy with a Basket of Fruit, one can see the equal attention the artist has paid to both the figure and to the still life of objects in which he holds in his arms.
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Boy with a Basket of
Fruit, Caravaggio, c.
1593, Oil
on canvas, 70
x 67 cm, Galleria
Borghese, Rome |
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This craftsmanship and attention to details can especially been seen in his painting Basket of Fruit. Caravaggio has executed this still life in several ways that would
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Basket of Fruit, Caravaggio, 1598-1601, Oil on canvas, 18 x 25 in Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan. |
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have shocked viewers in the seventeenth century. The first of these can be see in the realistic way he has chosen to depict the fruit placed inside of the basket. The academies and classical style of art promoted that objects should be idealized and it was the artistÕs job to perfect what nature has left imperfect within their art. Caravaggio went against this standing ideal and instead focused on realism by placing imperfect pieces of fruit within his compostition. The apples have been tarnished due bruising and to the holes seen on their surfaces from worms. The leaves that have been scattered throughout the arrangement have been depicted to represent varying stages of decay. The second shocking characteristic of this work is the way Caravaggio has chosen to place the basket on the table. This placement causes the viewer to think that the object is falling out of the picture plane and into the viewerÕs space, a devise that again challenges the ideas of classical art.[vi]
The idea of making the viewer of the painting almost interact with the art and the objects within the art can be found in many still lifes of the Baroque period. The objects used by the artists were in many cases chosen by the artist in order to gain the reaction of the viewerÕs senses. The human beings five senses of hearing, smell, taste, sight, and touch were all used in the painting, The Five Senses, by the French artist Baugin (1610-1663) in order to achieve interaction between painting and viewer. Ones sense of smell would be impacted by the flowers, hearing by the book of music placed under the musical instrument
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Still-life with Chessboard (The Five Senses), Baugin, 1630, Oil
on panel, 55 x 73 cm, MusŽe
du Louvre, Paris |
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of the lute, touch by the purse and the chess-board, taste by the wine in the glass along with the roll of bread and ones sight by the mirror and the entire painting itself. These objects causing an interaction with the senses allowed the painting to be much more interesting to the viewer.[vii]
Vanitas was another form of still life painting occurring in the Baroque period. Paintings that contained moral message within them fell under the name of Vanitas. ÒThese paintings are paradoxical, in that they depend upon the enjoyment of beautiful objects in a fine painting while simultaneously admonishing the viewer to beware of material preoccupations.Ó[viii] The painting by Harmen Steenwyck, titled Vanitas, shows man existence in life among objects that symbolize power and wealth, learning, and pleasures.
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Vanitas, Steenwyck, 1660. |
The painting Flower-piece, by Van Beyeren also contains images pertaining to the idea of Vanitas. The life and vitality of the flowers are contrasted by the inclusion of the
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Flower-piece, Van Beyeren, c. 1665 |
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pocket-watch symbolizing time lying at the vase of the vase. The idea portrayed through the painting that in time the flowers will wither and die, is used to cause the viewer (man) to think that in time he too will no longer be alive on this earth. In this painting the visual effects the emotions of man.
The Dutch still life artists were famous for their paintings of flowers. In the 1630Õs tulip bulbs were imported from Turkey to Holland. This importation of exotic flowers caused a huge increase in commissions for paintings of flowers during this period.[ix] The female Dutch artist, Rachel Ruysch (1666-1750) was among the best flower painters of the time. Her exquisite rendering of flowers is most likely due to her childhood, where she had access to rare flowers due to her father being a professor of botany. The painting Fruit, Flowers, and Insects, by Ruysch represents her skill of realistically depict fruit and flowers,
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Fruit, Flowers, and Insects, Rachel Ruysch, c.1716, Oil on canvas, Palazzo Pitti, Florence |
but also her desire to show the exotic within her paintings. The dramatic use of light she chose to cast upon the canvas intensifies the textures of each of the objects surfaces differentiating one from the other.[x] Another Dutch artist who painted flowers was Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573-1621). He was known for making many preparatory paintings in watercolors of fresh flowers, which he saved and would use as sketches to create the flowers within his still life paintings. These preparatory watercolors allowed Bosschaert to combine flowers that bloomed at different times of the year into one single vibrant composition. In his paintings Flowers in a Glass Vase, and Bouquet in an Arched Window one can clearly see the close attention to detail that Bosschaert the Elder has paid to each of the flowers petals. The idea of placing the vases of flowers within
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Flowers in a Glass Vase, Bosschaert the Elder |
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Bouquet
in an Arched Window, Bosschaert
the Elder, 1620, Oil
on wood, Mauritshuis,
The Hague |
arches comes from the Renaissance period. The artists of the Renaissance period liked to center objects within their compositions, Bosschaert looking upon this tradition centered his objects within the framework of an arch.[xi]
Willem Kalf (1619-1693) was another very famous Baroque still life painter, who within his works records social, historical and economic statements. These social, economic and historical messages refer directly to the trade routes to the East and to the Americas. It shows the wealth gained from trading due to the inclusion of many luxurious objects within the arrangements he painted.[xii] A statement about society is made due to ones desire to have these precious goods, and the ability of the wealthy to afford these goods. It aso makes a historical statement by telling the viewer that these goods were gained due to the trade routes, and a reference that makes one today think of the very famous trading company the Dutch East India Company. These luxury items such as Turkish carpets, porcelain, and rare fruits make a direct reference to the prosperity of the Dutch trading ships and merchants. In the painting Still-Life with a Late Ming Ginger Jar, one can see KalfÕs desire to show off these worldly goods that had been brought back to Holland via the trade route. [xiii] This painting makes a nationalistic statement of the prosperity, wealth and power of Holland.
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Still-Life
with a Late Ming Ginger Jar, Kalf, 1669, Oil
on canvas, 77
x 65,5 cm, Museum of Art, Indianapolis |
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Still life painting in the Baroque period looked upon several different themes, but regardless of the theme they were all executed in the same careful way. The Baroque artists who painted still lifes even though they were of different nationalities and working in different parts of Europe, they all were obsessed with paying very close attention to detail. This attention to detail led them to create highly realistic works of art. Though the genre of painting still lifes has been considered to be a low art form, in looking at the masterful way the artists have composed and depicted the objects within the painting, I believe puts them in the category of masters of high (major) arts, that could rival and be equal to the works of artists creating history or religious paintings.