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Pieter Snijers, A Still Life

Key facts
Full title A Still Life with Fruit, Vegetables, Dead Chickens and a Lobster
Artist Pieter Snijers
Artist dates 1681 - 1752
Date made 1707-52
Medium and support Oil on canvas
Dimensions 118.8 × 99.7 cm
Inscription summary Signed
Acquisition credit Bought, 1894
Inventory number NG1401
Location Not on display
Collection Main Collection
A Still Life
Pieter Snijers

This is a display of all the rich fruit, fish and fowl that could be found on a wealthy man’s table. Lobsters and chicken are placed close to the full basket of fruit – peaches, nectarines, a single black plum. A costly blue-and-white Chinese bowl stands next to it, full of wild strawberries. The pale stalks of bunches of asparagus gleam in the dim light, with lemons and artichokes pressing in around them. It’s a picture of abundance.

Pictures of this kind, without a focused arrangement and with little attempt at directional lighting to make objects and textures stand out, were intended to hang in the dining rooms of the wealthy – a background that fitted the occasion without being too demanding.

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