Skip to main content

Cornelis de Heem

Cornelis de Heem specialized in still lifes, just like his father, Jan Davidsz de Heem. Cornelis, who was trained by his father, moved at a very young age from Leiden to Antwerp, where he joined the Guild of St Luke as a master painter in 1660.

This canvas displays an ornate still life featuring, among other things, bunches of grapes, a lobster, a shaker and a berkemeier filled with white wine. The artist deployed these costly objects not only to show off his technical skills but also to endow the composition with symbolic significance. A bunch of grapes, for example, could allude both to excessive drinking and to Christ, who was referred to as the True Vine. The lobster reflects a luxurious lifestyle, but was also known as a symbol of conflict and inconstancy. Oysters were associated with carnal lust in the seventeenth century.

 

Specifications

  • Still Life with a Berkemeier, a Peeled Lemon, Grapes and Oysters
  • Cornelis De Heem (1631 - 1695)
  • Oil on Canvas
  • Long-term loan, Private collection