Still Life in the Dutch Golden Age

The day will begin with a brief discussion concerning the definition and origins of the term ‘still life’ and its origins in Egyptian, Greek and Roman art, followed by the demise of still life during the early centuries of Christian art, and its re-emergence as a result of the Renaissance and the rise of humanism during the 14th century and 15th centuries, when still life begins to play a more dominant role in the paintings of Netherlandish painters.

It is during the later 16th and 17th centuries that still life begins to become a subject in its own right. New plants came to Europe as a result of the voyages of discovery and, during the 17th century, still life develops in diversity and unsurpassed technical brilliance, in the work of Dutch painters, from Ambrosius Bosschaert and Pieter Claesz to Rachel Ruysch.

One of the catalysts for the steady development of both flower and so-called ‘breakfast pieces’ in the work of Dutch painters was the change from Catholicism to Protestantism. Still life subjects appeared as symbols of transience and the vanitas theme became a popular one with a new Calvinist audience, as well as paintings of beauty and delight.

Lecture 1: Origins and Definition of Still Life What is meant by ‘still life’ and how and why did Dutch painters take it up so successfully?

Lecture 2: The Development of Still Life Subjects from Flowers to Breakfast Pieces 1620- 1650. An analysis of early developments in the painting of flowers and breakfast pieces from Bosschaert to Pieter Claesz.

Lecture 3: Later 17th Century Developments 1650-1680. An increasing complexity
and sumptuousness characterises later 17th century Dutch still life as in the work of Jan Davidsz de Heem, but some painters retain a fascinating simplicity such as Adriaen Coorte.

Lecture 4: Dutch Still Life at the end of the 17th Century and its Legacy