Still Life Painting

Details

Descriptive Terms

still lifes
paintings (visual works)
oil paint (paint)
panels (wood)
Picture
Still-Life
Still-Life

Label

Still lifes are considered the zenith of Dutch painting in the seventeenth century. Willem Claez. Heda painted countless variations of the same subject: a breakfast table laid with fruit, a Venetian-style glass and a silver-gilt cup. In this version, a half-peeled lemon and a watch and key are placed on pewter plates which are set precariously on the edge of the table. Heda signed and dated the painting on the knife blade.
After inheriting a number of paintings from his father, Charles Russell Codman became a passionate collector. One of his most important acquisitions was this painting, a classic seventeenth-century Dutch still life by a master of the genre, Willem Claesz Heda. Owning an Old Master was an incontrovertible mark of status, and this painting was certainly one of the most prized in Codman's extensive collection. Heda lived in the northern Netherlandish city of Haarlem, a thriving artistic center, not far from Amsterdam. While little is known about him, dozens of his paintings survive, most of them variations on the same theme, using the same combination of objects, featuring tabletops laden with partially eaten food and shimmering tablewares. This painting hangs at the Codman Estate in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

Inscription

"HEDA 16[32?]" (Painted)

Associated Building

Exhibited At Boston Athenaeum,

Maker

Heda, Willem Claesz, 1594-1680 (Painter)

Location of Origin

Haarlem, Netherlands

Dimensions

33 3/4 x 38 7/8 x 3 1/2 (HxWxD) (inches)

Credit Line

Bequest of Dorothy S.F.M. Codman

Accession Number

1969.850

Places

Massachusetts (United States)