Still life

Adriaen Coorte, Shells (1697)

Abraham van Beyeren, Banquet Still Life (c. 1660)

A still life is a work of art, most often a painting. In a still life, objects like flowers, fruit, or glasses are arranged in a certain way, and then painted. Most still lifes are of inanimate objects manmade or natural.Still life painting has been popular since the 17th century, when Dutch painters like Adriaen Coorte raised it to a fine art. However, the idea is old: examples can be found in antiquity. With a still life, the artist can focus more on composition and arrangement than with other forms of painting, such as landscape painting or portraiture.

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  Transparent bowl of fruit and vases. Roman wall painting in Pompeii (around 70 AD)

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  Edouard Manet, Carnations and Clematis in a Crystal Vase (1883)

Still Life Media

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  Juan Sánchez Cotán, Still Life with Game Fowl, Vegetables and Fruits (1602), Museo del Prado Madrid

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  Still life on a 2nd-century mosaic, with fish, poultry, dates and vegetables from the Vatican museum

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  Hans Memling (1430–1494), Vase of Flowers (1480), Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid. According to some scholars the Vase of Flowers is filled with religious symbolism.

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  Joachim Beuckelaer (1533–1575), Kitchen scene, with Jesus in the house of Martha and Mary in the background (1566), 171 × 250 cm (67.3 × 98.4 in).

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  Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Fruitbasket (1595–96), oil on canvas, 31 × 47 cm

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  Willem Kalf (1619–1693), oil on canvas, The J. Paul Getty Museum

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  Pieter Claesz (1597–1660), Still life with Musical Instruments (1623)

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  Diego Velázquez, Old Woman Frying Eggs (1618), (National Gallery of Scotland), is one of the earliest examples of bodegón.