Still Life with Parrots
Artist
Jan Davidsz de Heem
(Flemish, 1606 - 1684)
Datelate 1640s
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsFramed: 70 1/2 x 57 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (179.1 x 146.1 x 14 cm)
Image: 59 1/4 x 46 1/4 in. (150.5 x 117.5 cm)
Image: 59 1/4 x 46 1/4 in. (150.5 x 117.5 cm)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN289
De Heem is celebrated for luxurious still lifes depicting tables over-laden with ornate glass and silverware, fruit, and crustaceans. Many items here were not indigenous to the Netherlands, including the African gray parrot, the scarlet macaw from Brazil, citrus fruits from southern Europe, and rare shells from the East and West Indies. Glasses of wine and a flagon of beer betoken indulgence, as do the oysters, thought to stimulate sexual appetites. Altogether, these delicacies represent the prosperity and global reach of the Dutch in the seventeenth century.
On View
On viewLocation
- Museum of Art, Gallery 13, Wall North
