Artwork
Still life with cheese, artichoke and cherries
Still life with cheese, artichoke and cherries is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Clara Peeters. It dates from 1625 and is held in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Created in 1625, this oil painting presents a meticulously arranged banquet of everyday Dutch fare.
About this work
Overview
Bread, butter, a half‑eaten roll, and a small salt jar complete the composition, all set against a deep, shadowy background that heightens the vivid hues.
Created in 1625, this oil painting presents a meticulously arranged banquet of everyday Dutch fare. A wedge of cheese with a dark rind sits beside a lighter, crumbly block, while an opened artichoke rests on a plate surrounded by glossy red cherries. Bread, butter, a half‑eaten roll, and a small salt jar complete the composition, all set against a deep, shadowy background that heightens the vivid hues.
Subject & Meaning
The work depicts commonplace foods—Edam and Gouda cheeses, bread, butter, cherries, and an artichoke—rendered with a level of detail that invites contemplation of abundance and domesticity. By focusing on humble provisions, the painting reflects the 17th‑century Dutch interest in material culture and the moral undertones of modest consumption.
Technique & Style
The artist employs a chiaroscuro scheme, using strong contrasts between illuminated surfaces and a dark backdrop to model form and texture. Fine brushwork captures the porous rind of the cheese, the delicate veins of the artichoke, and the reflective sheen of the cherries, creating a tactile illusion of three‑dimensionality.
History & Provenance
The painting is attributed to Clara Peeters, one of the few recognized professional women painters of the early 1600s. It now belongs to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where it is displayed as part of the museum’s European paintings collection.
Context
Peeters worked within the flourishing still‑life tradition of the Dutch Golden Age, a period that celebrated detailed, realistic depictions of food and objects. Her focus on meticulously rendered tablescapes aligns with contemporary interests in trade, culinary variety, and the visual celebration of everyday life.
Artist & collection
Artist
Clara Peeters (Dutch pronunciation: ; fl. 1607–1676) was a Flemish still-life painter from Antwerp who worked in both the Spanish Netherlands and Dutch Republic. Peeters is the best-known female Flemish artist of this…
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