Still Life with Asparagus

Adriaen Coorte was a Dutch Golden Age painter of still life, who signed works between 1683 and 1707. He painted small and unpretentious stills in a style more typical of the first half of the century and was one of the last practitioners of this “intimate category". The Still Life painting has allowed artists the ability to send extra messages and has been used for many years, and although the genre may be lost on most art lovers today, there is a long history behind it. Allegorical representations of the brevity of life, decay and finally death has been a popular theme, called vanitas, which called the viewer to remember that we will die and the vanity of worldly pleasures and goods. Here we see through a simple subject, the asparagus, a stark contrast to other sumptuous still life works that were in fashion at the time. While the aim of those works was to present a superabundance of costly objects and foodstuffs, here attention is focused on the refined rendering of a single vegetable. In 17th century asparagus was symbolic of the fruits of Paradise, or Heaven. As such, they were highly valued as a luxury item representing and symbolizing prosperity.

This delightful still-life we dedicate to our long-time supporter - Internet Manager at The Rijksmuseum - Peter Gorgels.:)