
1622
Cleveland, United States
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Description
Placed on a simple stone ledge, this bold arrangement includes a wooden box, a dark glass bottle, some walnuts, an elaborate Venetian glass, and several sweets called turrones. These delicacies are a mixture of pine nuts, honey, almonds, and hazelnuts. The picture may not represent an actual meal or snack. Rather, the artist played with contrasts and harmonies of shapes, textures, and colors. During his short career van der Hamen, whose father was from the Netherlands, worked at the Spanish royal court and created biblical pictures, history paintings, allegories, and landscapes. He is best known for his portraits and still lifes.
Medium
oil on canvas
💡 Did you know
This painting shows a sumptuous display of sweets in various pottery containers and in the center a silver sugar holder with a gold spoon emphasizes the wealth of this dessert spread. Far from normal, such a spread would have been beyond reach of most townspeople and the artist herself at that time and was either meant to represent an ideal holiday feast or was commissioned by a wealthy patron.