Artwork

A still life with game, vegetables and fruit on a table, with a parrot on a branch

A still life with game, vegetables and fruit on a table, with a parrot on a branch is an oil painting by the Flemish Baroque painting artist Frans Snyders. It dates from 1601 and is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado.

About this work

Overview

Frans Snyders’ oil painting, dated 1601, presents a richly arranged still life that is part of the collection at Madrid’s Museo del Prado. The composition centers on a table draped in a deep‑red cloth, upon which lie a variety of game, fruit, and vegetables, while a vividly colored parrot perches on a branch above the scene.

Subject & Meaning

The work juxtaposes lifeless game—birds and a rabbit—with abundant produce such as grapes, pears, plums, and berries, creating a visual meditation on abundance and mortality. The inclusion of the exotic parrot adds a touch of the exotic and may allude to the global trade networks that supplied such luxuries in the early seventeenth century.

Technique & Style

Snyders employs a pronounced chiaroscuro, using a dark backdrop to amplify the luminous hues of the fruit and the sheen of feathers. Meticulous attention to the play of light on each surface renders the textures—soft fur, glossy skin, iridescent plumage—with a near‑tactile realism characteristic of Flemish Baroque still lifes.

History & Provenance

Executed in 1601, the painting entered the Spanish royal collection before being transferred to the Museo del Prado, where it remains on display. Its provenance reflects the high demand for Snyders’ works among European courts, where his elaborate banquet scenes were prized for both decorative and symbolic purposes.