Still life quartet by Dutch golden period grasp to be revealed with one another in Cambridge|Painting

A quartet of outstanding examine in nonetheless lives from the Dutch musician Jan Davidsz de Heem will definitely happen display screen with one another for the very first time provided that the seventeenth century on the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

The 4 paints have been generated as element of a set by De Heem, that’s thought of to be a grasp of pronkstilleven– a design of ornate examine in nonetheless life paint– all through the Dutch golden period, exhibiting screens of very good meals and glamorous issues.

Fruits and Rich Dishes on a Table (1640 ), is being lent from the Louvre; Still Life with Boy and Parrots (1641 ), will get right here from Brussels City Museum; and Still Life in a Palatial Setting (1642) is being lent from a private assortment.

Banquet Still Life (1643) is the final paint within the assortment, has a value of regarding ₤ 6m and has really gotten on program on the Fitzwilliam provided that 2023.

The program, which opens up on 3 December and known as Picturing Excess, places the function in a historic context of quick European progress worldwide, when the well-off will surely flaunt their treasures by the use of the extravagant screens repainted by De Heem.

The Fitzwilliam said the paints displayed the “vast array of expensive and luxurious commodities”, whereas likewise describing“excess and abundance but also colonialism” One of the paints, Still Life with Boy and Parrots, consists of the photographs of a confined African baby.

The gallery said: “While these paintings are intended to show off the owners’ wealth, breadth of knowledge and their increasingly global reach, the paintings also include moral messages, pointing out that these riches do not endure.”

De Heem’s job was acknowledged for its lifelike accuracy, with the Guardian’s artwork film critic Jonathan Jones defining an extra paint– Still Life with Lobster (1643)– because the “17th-century Dutch answer to food porn”.

Picturing Excess: Jan Davidsz de Heem goes to the Fitzwilliam Museum from 3 December up till 13 April 2025