Artwork
Fruit and Flowers on a Marble Table
Fruit and Flowers on a Marble Table is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Jan van Huysum. It dates from 1718 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a carefully arranged still life featuring a lush bouquet of flowers and a selection of ripe fruit set upon a polished marble slab.
The painting depicts a carefully arranged still life featuring a lush bouquet of flowers and a selection of ripe fruit set upon a polished marble slab. Van Huysum’s composition highlights peonies, roses, and tulips alongside grapes, peaches, and a fig, rendered with meticulous detail. The marble’s veined surface reflects the delicate petals and glossy fruit, grounding the scene in opulence and transience.
Such arrangements traditionally symbolized abundance and the fleeting nature of life, common in Dutch and Flemish still lifes of the period. The inclusion of both blooming and wilting flowers alongside ripe and overripe fruit underscores themes of beauty, decay, and the passage of time.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in oil paint on an oak panel support, a material choice that contributes to its distinctive luminous surface and subtle texture. The composition features a carefully observed arrangement of fruit and flowers that demonstrates the artist's mastery of color harmony and delicate brushwork, reflecting the refined formal qualities typical of early 18th-century Dutch still lifes. The handling of light and the meticulous rendering of botanical details underscore the painting's technical precision and its emphasis on visual clarity.
History & Provenance
Fruit and Flowers on a Marble Table is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, accession number 28.100.5. The work was painted in 1718 by Jan van Huysum and is displayed in Gallery 622 of the museum.
Overview
Jan van Huysum’s oil painting Fruit and Flowers on a Marble Table (1718) presents a meticulously arranged still life that exemplifies the Dutch Golden Age’s fascination with naturalistic detail. The composition places a cluster of grapes, apples and a peach on a textured gray surface, surrounded by tangled foliage and delicate white blossoms, all set against a dark backdrop that heightens the vividness of the fruit.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jan van Huysum (or Jan van Huijsum) (15 April 1682 – 8 February 1749) is the most notable member of the Van Huysum family of artists working in Dutch Golden Age of the 17th and 18th centuries; "by common consent, Jan…
