Still-Life with a Bearded Man Crock and a Nautilus Shell Cup

1642 · Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

still-life

A "tiny banquet" or "small breakfast" is best seen as the sober counterpart to the ostentatious Dutch 17th century still-lifes. The number of objects portrayed is limited, the colour palette muted: black, white, grey and brown in every shade define the atmosphere. Connoisseurs frequently deprecate Maerten Boelema de Stomme's often slightly out-of balance and over-busy compositions, with objects piled one on top of another.

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Still-Life with a Bearded Man Crock and a Nautilus Shell Cup

About the Artist

Maerten Boelema De Stomme

1611 – 1664

Flemish painter of still-lifes. Born in Leeuwarden in 1611, Maerten (or Martinus) was a deaf-mute (hence his byname 'De Stomme'), who was recorded in Haarlem in 1642 where he was accepted as a pupil of Willem Claesz. Heda. He must have been a trained painter before he came to work in Heda's studio in 1642. Boelema's dated works only span a two-year period, from 1642 until 1644. There are about twenty signed still-lifes known by the artist.

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