Artwork
Still life with a herring
Still life with a herring is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Gerret Willemsz. Heda. It dates from 1644 and is held in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw. Gerret Willemsz.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
As a work of the Dutch Golden Age, the assembly of these specific objects functions as a vanitas symbol.
Painted in 1644 by Gerret Willemsz. Heda, this oil-on-oak panel presents a meticulously arranged still life centered on a herring. The composition features the fish alongside a loaf of bread, a knife, and various drinking vessels, including a wine glass, a chalice, and a Westerwald stoneware pitcher, all resting upon a draped tablecloth.
As a work of the Dutch Golden Age, the assembly of these specific objects functions as a vanitas symbol. The inclusion of perishable food items like the herring and bread, paired with fragile glassware, serves as a visual meditation on the transience of earthly pleasures and the inevitability of decay.
Technique & Style
The painting is executed in oil on an oak panel, measuring about 78.5 cm in height and 65.5 cm in width. It belongs to the genre of Dutch still-life and depicts a tablecloth together with a Westerwald stoneware wine pitcher, a wine glass, a chalice, a knife, a slice of bread and a herring. The composition showcases a careful rendering of textures and the reflective quality of metal and glass, typical of mid-17th-century Dutch still-life practice.
The work is catalogued as a painting by Gerret Willemsz. Heda and is part of the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw.
History & Provenance
Gerret Willemsz. Heda's 1644 oil painting, Still life with a herring, is held in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw. The work is painted on an oak panel and measures 78.5 cm in height by 65.5 cm in width.
While the source material confirms the museum's possession and the artwork's creation date, it does not provide a specific inventory or accession number, nor does it list any exhibition history for the piece.
The painting depicts a table setting featuring a herring, a Westerwald stoneware wine pitcher, a wine glass, a chalice, a knife, bread, and a tablecloth. All details regarding the current holding and physical dimensions are derived from the museum's catalog entry associated with the work.
Overview
Gerret Willemsz. Heda, a painter from the Dutch Golden Age, completed Still life with a herring in 1644 using oil paint. This work exemplifies the period's focus on domestic scenes and common items.
It presents a humble collection of objects on a table, including a fish, bread, and a pitcher, arranged with careful attention to detail and light. The painting is currently housed in the National Museum in Warsaw.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Gerret Willemsz. Heda (1620/25, in Haarlem – 1647/59, in Haarlem), was a Dutch Golden Age painter; known for fruit still lifes and vanitas paintings. He was the son and pupil of Willem Claesz. Heda, and influenced the…
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