Symbols, vanities, and illusions : still life painting in seventeenth-century Spain

Abstract

Seventeenth-century Spanish still lifes reflect a profound yearning for meaningful representations of '"soulless objects. Still lifes executed by painters such as Juan Sanchez Cotan, Francisco de Zurbaran, and Antonio de Pereda reveal a cultural identity shaped by religiosity and mysticism. With the use of trompe I 'oeil techniques, Spanish artists treat their objects as subjects of study and contemplation. Depictions of pomegranates, lemons, and oranges appear as something more than edibles. The nature morte objects come to life before the viewer and transform into symbols of the human condition. The thesis explores three underlining themes of seventeenth-century still lifes: symbolism, the concept of reality versus appearance, and perceptions of life and death. In the light of modem theoretical perspectives, all three themes interrelate revealing a pattern for deciphering the world around us. Francisco de Zurbaran paints fruits and objects presenting them as sanctified expressions of a culture besotted with religiosity and spirituality. Juan Sanchez Cotan's objects relate notions of an unremitting theatrical interplay between reality and appearance while vanitas paintings expose human frailties common in everyone. The examination of seventeenth-century still lifes reinforces the importance of the artistic genre within society and its concerns over matters such as life and death.