Painting: Still Life With Curiosities

~ beetleypete

Still life paintings are often packed with small details, and this one is no exception. It was painted by Dutch artist Jan Van Der Heyden in 1712, shortly before he died. Not only does this feature an exquisitely-detailed twin globe and open books, it also has a painting within a painting, hanging on the wall above the marble fireplace. It is incomprehensible to me how he achieved such minute detail using only paints and brushes.

There is also a Turkish carpet, and a roll of decorated Chinese silk, all on a relatively small canvas of 2.5 feet by 2.1 feet. It is currently on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.

The photo can be enlarged slightly by clicking on it.

35 thoughts on “Painting: Still Life With Curiosities”

  1. It is amazing. I’ve seen some ultra-realistic modern paintings that you can’t tell apart from a photograph, even when you look at them really close, but this one is incredible. Thanks, Pete.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. Down to the typeface in the books and the conflicting textiles. Incredible. It’s been suggested a lot of the brilliance we see coming from the past is down to lack of easy distraction. If all you had to do on a long carriage ride was write down the music in your head, or stay inside all winter and paint or write – no phones, no TV, no look ahead weather forecasts, shopping centers or mechanized transportation. But that argument never factors in phenomenal patience. This one IS crazy.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. Pingback: Painting: Still Life With Curiosities | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  5. What amazes me is the text in the open books. I don’t know if he painted actual words (and couldn’t tell even after zooming in on them), but Jan Van Der Heyden’s detail work certainly gives the impression that the pages in those books could be read.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Until I scrolled down I thought I was supposed to be looking at the picture above the mantel. I assumed it was hanging is an estate or something. I don’t know anything about that painter, though the name is familiar but it’s hard to imagine creating such a work in the final stages of ones life. Perhaps he literally put his whole self into it. Whatever the case, is is extraordinary. The possible talents of mankind are unfathomable.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  13. There is painting on the shelf door! Except for the angel of the carpet, I couldn’t believe it was a painting. If I had seen it on internet, I would have dismissed it a photograph! Did you notice the texture on the shelf and how detailed the marble fireplace is? The rolled carpet, the cup on the shelf, the stuffed armadillo…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. As you say, Pete, the skill is awesome. It really is like looking through a window into someone else’s life, in a different time. That thing adjacent to the mantelpiece, whatever it is, is really quite surreal: it looks to me like it’s just suspended in space! I wonder if it could have been a visual joke? Cheers, Jon.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Do you mean the stuffed armadillo? It is suspended from the ceiling on wires, which can be seen quite clearly. The intention of the painter was to celebrate the worldwide exploration (and colonisation) of the Dutch empire at the time.

      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. I think you will find that the ‘big bug’ is a stuffed Armadillo, Darlene. 😉 look at the pointy head facing left, and big claws on the feet.

      Glad to hear you like the painting.

      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

All comments welcome

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.