Description:
Still Life with flowers and animals; chrysanthemum frutesceus, pyrus malus, papaver rhoeas, centaurea, daucus carota, myosois sylvatica, rubus vulgari, triticum aestivum, silybum marianum; vegetation; outdoor; cave; animals; frogs; birds;
Label Text:
This still life by the German artist Mignon, who studied under the Dutch artist Jan de Heem, is animated by living creatures: insects, frogs, a snake, and nesting birds. Still lifes were very popular in seventeenth-century Holland. Scientifically accurate depictions of individual flowers, insects, and fruit would often be displayed within a fantastical composition to demonstrate the skill and creativity of the artist. Flowers from different seasons would be shown blooming simultaneously or, as in this painting, growing without sunlight in a dark cave or grotto.
Dutch still lifes frequently contain objects that reflect the transient nature of life. Decaying flowers or industrious bugs eating holes in leaves and fruit are there to remind the viewer of mortality. Here (at lower right) a snake on the hunt might signal the fragility of this hidden paradise.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1957.3 |
