{"id":22153,"date":"2024-09-18T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beculture.it\/?p=22153"},"modified":"2024-08-26T17:52:57","modified_gmt":"2024-08-26T15:52:57","slug":"history-and-famous-examples-of-still-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beculture.it\/en\/history-and-famous-examples-of-still-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Still life: history and characteristics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Few things can evoke contrasting feelings like still life, especially older ones: some are passionate about it, while others consider it a minor genre. To better understand its importance and charm, let’s retrace its history and evolution, focusing particularly on the 17th<\/sup> century, to which some of the most famous still lifes<\/strong> belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The origins of still life: from antiquity to the Middle Ages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How is still life defined? To simplify, we can say that this genre includes everything that is not history painting. In other words, these are works without a narrative, depicting neither human deeds nor events (be they religious, mythological, or otherwise), but instead represent the inanimate world of objects. Fruits, flowers, food, tableware, books, musical instruments, work tools<\/strong>: everything can be the object – and thus the subject – of still life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to this definition, we can trace the beginnings of this art back to Roman times<\/strong>, particularly in wall and mosaic paintings made between the 1st<\/sup> century BC and the 1st<\/sup> century AD in ancient Roman villas and the buildings of Pompei and Ercolano.
However, its official antecedent is commonly recognized in the two frescoed Coretti<\/em> by <\/strong>Giotto<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>in the Cappella degli Scrovegni (1303-1304), which pave the way for the painting of objects. Here, the Tuscan Master represents two settings seen from below, with a bifora (twin window) and a cross vault from which an elaborate wrought-iron lantern hangs, without any human subjects or explicit narrative motives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coretto<\/em>, Giotto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 15th<\/sup> and 16th<\/sup> centuries: objects gain autonomy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the 15th<\/sup> century, Flemish painting already stands out for its marked preference for realistic settings<\/strong>. Biblical episodes and saints’ lives are often set in domestic places, characterized by furnishings and everyday objects – laden with symbolic meanings – meticulously described by the artists of the time. An example of truly sublime naturalistic detail is achieved in the famous Trittico Portinari<\/em> by Hugo van der Goes, 1477-1478, housed in the Galleria degli Uffizi<\/a>. The work, commissioned by the Florentine merchant Tommaso di Folco Portinari, consists of a central panel enclosed by two side shutters decorated on both sides. The interior, revealed only during certain liturgical moments like Lent, depicts the Nativity: the Child and the Virgin at the center, surrounded by angels and shepherds in adoration, while San Giuseppe observes the scene in prayer. In the foreground, a double vase of flowers containing lilies, irises, columbines, and carnations, all varieties that recall the Virgin’s virtues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Trittico Portinari<\/em>, Hugo van der Goes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But the true push towards the genre’s autonomy comes from the second half of the 16th<\/sup> century, when, following the Protestant Reformation, the depiction of sacred scenes is banned in the Netherlands and other northern countries. This event forces artists to seek new themes and commissions: the then-flourishing merchant bourgeoisie adds to the traditional ecclesiastical patrons. This success leads to the so-called genre painting<\/strong> spreading beyond borders. Thus, markets, shops, and kitchens with workers and goods alternate in late 16th<\/sup> century paintings: the golden age of still life is just around the corner<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 17th<\/sup> century: the golden age of still life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the 17th<\/sup> century, still life establishes itself as an independent genre, spreading on a European scale. The Netherlands and Germany are considered its birthplace<\/strong>: as we have seen, the social fabric and interest in representing the material qualities of things favor a new and substantial production of still lifes.
But these works multiply elsewhere in Europe too. In Italy<\/strong>, for example, the most flourishing centers are Rome, the Lombardy area, and Naples, with some prominent names also in Florence.
Spanish artists<\/strong> adhere to this new genre by favoring the painting of food (the so-called bodeg\u00f3nes, from the Spanish for tavern, cellar); while in France<\/strong>, still life spreads later than in other countries, with artists drawing inspiration mainly from Flemish production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meaning and subgenres of still life<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Why did still life become so popular? Besides the aforementioned social and cultural events – and the growing interest of artists in representing reality in all its manifestations – the reasons lie in the underlying meaning<\/strong> of these paintings. Still life allows for the symbolic expression of the precariousness of existence and the transience of worldly things, a theme dear to 17th<\/sup> century culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The allegory is read, more or less evidently, in all subgenres of still life<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n