Laid Table with Cheeses and Fruit

still-life

Early seventeenth-century still-life painters of food depict objects from a high point of view, to show as much as possible of the surface of a table, a vantage point similar to the one used by contemporary landscape, marine, and architectural painters. Symmetrically arranged platters of fruit, cheese, nuts, sweets, as well as glasses, jugs, and knives, are spread upon a flat tablecloth. The inanimate objects appear to pose in a steady light, showing how carefully every surface and texture has been scrutinized and how faithfully everything has been rendered.

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About the Artist

Floris Claesz van Dijck

1575 – 1651

Dutch painter. He came from a wealthy patrician family in Haarlem and spent some time in Italy, where he met Cavaliere d'Arpino. In 1610 van Dijck became a member of the Haarlem Guild of St Luke and in 1637 was elected deacon. He specialized particularly in kitchen and fruit still-lifes. There is an affinity between his motifs and those of Nicolaes Gillis and Floris van Schooten. He enjoyed considerable fame during his lifetime and, with his Haarlem contemporaries Nicolaes Gillis, Floris van Schooten and Roelof Koets, was one of the earliest Dutch still-life painters.

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