Terms and conditions of use
Still life with glasses and fruit
(1663)
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
53.0 × 43.7 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1922
Gallery location
17th Century & Flemish Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
In Dutch Baroque still-life painting, the presence of fruit, particularly citrus fruit, contained multiple layers of meaning. These fruits, often rare in colder climates, reflected wealth and status. The inclusion of an orange in a painting may also have reflected the patron’s support of the politically powerful House of Orange-Nassau. This took on particular significance in the 1660s, when only two of the seven Provinces of Holland were under the rule of the House of Orange. Painting fruit also allowed the artists to display their technical mastery by capturing the various textures of peeled and whole oranges and lemons, as Willem Kalf has achieved here.
Artwork Details
Accession Number
1251-3
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Still Lifes
Subjects (specific)
drinking glasses fruit pieces glassware goblets oranges (fruits)