Still Life with Dead Game, a Monkey, a Parrot, and a Dog
Artist/Maker
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 111 x 180 cm h x w x d: Ram 144 x 214 x 18 cm
Inventory numberNM 637
AcqusitionTransferred 1866 from Kongl. Museum (Tessin-Fredrik I 1749)
Other titlesTitle (sv): Stilleben med villebråd Title (en): Still Life with Dead Game, a Monkey, a Parrot, and a Dog Title (fr): Nature morte avec gibier mort, singe, perroquet et chien
DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 182: Technical notes: The painting’s support consists of a single piece of densely woven, heavy-weight twill canvas with a “herring-bone” weave; the weave pattern runs horizontally. The original support has been lined and was mounted on a new stretcher in 1921. The tacking edges have been trimmed off on all sides and part of the original paint surface, a c. 0.8 cm wide strip along the top edge, folded over the stretcher to serve as a tacking edge. Broad cusping is visible in the X-radiograph along the top and bottom edges indicating that the painting’s current dimensions are approximately those of the original support. The preparatory layer, a smooth, opaque, beige ground layer applied overall, remains visible through areas of more thinly applied paint, for example, in the wings of the heron. A summary underdrawing of the main compositional elements, partially visible to the naked eye, was made with a fine brush in dark brown outlines, as were occasional corrections of forms, for example, the adjustment of the contour of the deer’s left ear. Paint was applied with vigorous, but controlled brushwork, thickly in the whites (ex. the linen napkin), in the brilliant white or yellow highlights (ex. on the grapes, the vine leaves, the Wan-li porcelain plate, the gilt tazza, the lobster’s shell), the white and yellow ochre of the heron’s breast and neck, and the deer’s brown fur, thinly in the heron’s wings and the grapes. The thinly painted, muted greyish green background functions as an underpaint for the monkey’s greyish brown fur, the parrot’s grey plumage, and, partially, for the deer’s carcass (its back and hindlegs), while the greyish blue feathers of the heron’s outstretched wings were applied as a thin glaze directly on top of the beige ground layer. Snyders’ manner is both precise and painterly. He alters his approach for each type of object; his technique ranges from parallel dabs of thick paint that mimic animal fur to the seamless gloss of the grapes. He is especially concerned with contrasting the textures of the bristly fur of the deer, the monkey and the boar’s head, with the soft feathers of the heron and small birds. The deer’s bristly fur was suggested by using short parallel strokes of thick white and yellow ochre paint, partially scumbled over a darker, brownish grey underpaint. The wooden handle of the brush was repeatedly employed to create surface texture in areas of rich impasto such as the deer’s fur, the plumage of the heron’s neck and breast, or the raised blue pattern on the glossy surface of the Wan-li porcelain plate. The volume and prickly texture of the lobster’s shell was indicated by applying a few judiciously placed strokes of a darker hue to the uninflected red carapace and marking the protuberances with white or yellow lights in the form of blotches of thick, “short” paint in dots and lines that physically stand out on the canvas surface. The opaque skins of the apples, the stem and leaves of the artichokes, are painted with short parallel strokes, while the variously translucent forms of the grapes are depicted in a different manner. The volume of each grape, its lustrous and matte surfaces, is indicated economically with just a few broadly brushed tones: a middle tone, the grape’s actual colour, underlying lighter and darker hues to indicate the fruit’s juicy flesh, and a fleck of white added as a highlight. A few pentimenti are visible to the naked eye: the position of the chain around the monkey’s waist was changed to underline its forward movement towards the left; the shape of the lobster’s antennae was changed from curved to straight; some of the feathers of the heron’s outstretched right wing were altered from a closed to a more spread out shape. The painting is in excellent condition, with few losses and moderate abrasion overall. A layer of slightly discoloured old varnish is present. The lining process has reinforced the weave texture of the support. A small repaired tear at the upper right (background area). The paint layer displays a pronounced craquelure overall, with an attendant localized tendency towards flaking. Retouching covers abrasion and losses of paint and ground layers along the edges, especially the bottom and right edges. Scattered retouches are mainly concentrated in the greyish-green background wall and the red table cloth in the foreground, with few retouches visible in the still life elements (boar’s head; tips of heron’s wings; legs, neck and breast of deer carcass). The painting underwent conservation treatment in 1921, 1963 and 1988. Provenance: Tessin-Fredrik I-Lovisa Ulrika 1749, no. 36; purchased 1777 by Gustav III; Gustav III, Royal Palace, Stockholm, 1777–1792 (inv. 1792, no. 19); KM 1816, no. 179. Exhibited: Stockholm 1977–1978, no. 92; Tokyo/Fukuoka/Nara 1988, no. 36; Läckö 2003, no. 153; Stockholm 2010, no. 88. Bibliography: NM Cat. 1867, p. 46; Sander I, pp. 11, 59, 73, II, p. 103; Göthe 1887, pp. 246–247; Göthe 1893, pp. 302–303; Göthe 1910, 312; Granberg 1911–1913, III, p. 6 no. 17; Granberg 1929–1931, II, p. 152, III, pp. 8, 17 no. 19; Greindl 1956, p. 182, NM Cat. 1958, p. 186 no. 637; Greindl 1983, p. 375 no. 78; Robels 1989, pp. 73–74, 230–231 no. 73; NM Cat. 1990, p. 335; Koslow 1995, p. 281, fig. 379. In this still life a selection of costly delicacies – a disembowelled red deer carcass pulled up by a hind leg, the forepart of the body resting on a white linen napkin, a heron with outstretched wings, a brace of small game birds (finches), a boar’s head with gaping mouth, a fiery red lobster on a precious blue-and-white Wanli porcelain plate, artichokes, asparagus, apples, a gilt tazza with white, blue and red grapes – is displayed in a dynamic arrangement on a table covered by a red cloth that supplies a warm, sumptuous middle tone. Live domestic animals animate the scene, engaging in unruly behaviour while the household’s proprietor or servants are absent. A pet monkey, chained to the iron bars of a window, scampers across the table, straining to reach the tazza with grapes. At the left a large grey parrot perched on the back of a chair is fending off a greyhound, looking at the parrot and baring its teeth. Fruit, vegetables and the fiery red lobster add notes of bright colour to the variegated pelts and plumage of the pantry’s store. The variety of goods highlights Snyders’ use of local colour and recreation of surface textures, from the heron’s downy breast to the coarse bristles of the boar’s head, from the glint of the gilt tazza to the cool, succulent fruits and vegetables. The painted animals, both alive and dead, reveal Snyders’ mastery of animal depiction. Under the decisive influence of Peter Paul Rubens, Snyders developed new compositional formulae, with massive animal carcasses and elaborate arrangements of fruit, vegetables and china, all rendered with great precision. A fine example is the present still life, whose monumentality, tonal unity and warm palette indicates that it was probably executed in the 1630s, as suggested by Robels (1983). Koslow (1995) dates it c. 1630– 1650. Intermediate-size pantry scenes from the later middle period such as the present picture are especially noteworthy for their warm, festive mood, created by a preponderance of mainly red (lobster, table cloth), yellowish-orange (apples) and brown (the deer) motifs. Snyders now pursued a new approach by locating the table against a greyish-green wall. This gives a more tonally unified effect, since the brightly coloured fruit and vegetables do not stand out in such stark contrast to the background. Snyders did not shy away from depicting the cut in the deer’s abdomen. This incision offered the painter the opportunity to introduce a deep red in the midst of dark brown and golden fur, effectively enhancing these colours. According to Koslow (1995), the popularity of the new subject of the pantry scene can partly be accounted for by its greater decorousness as compared to earlier kitchen- and market scenes, which gave it a more patrician tone. Still lifes such as this painting, images of domestic abundance, celebrate Nature’s bountifulness and excite admiration for the beauty and utility of God’s creation.1 As Snyders oriented his work towards a noble clientele and one with social pretensions, he omits items associated with peasant fare, such as eggs, and even cheese and bread. Hunting, on the other hand, was a seigneurial privilege and venison one of the most conspicuous signs of high rank. Snyders’ pantry scenes may, thus, express the aspirations, tastes and attainments of his patrons by portraying the attributes of a nobleman’s land-based wealth, rather than that of the burgher, which was founded on manufacture, banking or commerce.2 The pantry’s copious stores, thus, indicate a very prosperous household, while its stock points to the owner’s nobility. In addition, the foodstuffs carry a wealth of symbolic meaning centred on the concept of carnal love. Finches such as those displayed on the table at left, and in particular goldfinches, were fertility symbols; and, according to medieval and Renaissance iconographers, the boar and deer were symbols of lechery.3 The produce similarly has erotic connotations. Asparagus and artichokes were thus said to have aphrodisiacal qualities. Fruit is viewed generally as symbolizing fecundity.4 Animal trophies, such as the boar, are the attributes of the virgin goddess Diana, who, as huntress symbolizes the conquest of the lower passions. Although the impression such canvases make is entirely secular, in some instances they may have had religious associations. Here live domestic animals – a parrot, a dog, a monkey – animate the scene and contribute an anecdotal, as well as a moralizing, dimension to it. Mainly they represent the sensual nature of man. The dog, a recurrent motif in kitchenand market scenes, is often represented by Snyders as a hunting hound, sniffing fresh game, an act that derives from illustrations of the sense of smell. This allegory enjoyed wide currency in the 17th century, but was already commonplace in the second half of the 16th century as one of the series of the “Five senses”. Because the monkey craves fruit, it is associated with the Fall of Man in Eden, and because it enjoys eating, it is a symbol of the sense of taste and the vice of gluttony, and by extension, intemperance. The monkey in the Stockholm painting sports a girdle and chain, signifying “the sinner who prefers to remain entrapped by vice, rather than break free for the sake of salvation”. 5The monkey, like the parrot, was a popular pet of the well-to-do, and, therefore, its representation, as a sign of social prominence, was particularly well suited to the pantry picture. Similarly, various species of parrots enliven both large and small still lifes, on account of the social prestige associated with this exotic bird. While the exceptional quality of the present painting strongly suggests that it was painted by Snyders himself, the numerous ricordi by the master and by artists close to him testify to a workshop specializing in still life and animal imagery, and prepared to produce replicas and variants of popular pictures for a large clientele with the aid of assistants and collaborators. Snyders customarily depicts the same objects repeatedly: elements such as the boar’s head, the asparagus placed next to the costly porcelain plate, the lobster, were frequently employed in other still lifes. The deer’s carcass in this picture occurs similarly in a painting, also of the 1630s, which was on the British art market in 1981,6 and in two paintings, one in Munich,7 the other on the American art market in 1973,8 produced by the Snyders workshop. It can also be found in a study sheet (top left) by the artist now in Berlin (Fig. 1).9 The parrot and the dog recur in a painting which was on the British art market in 1954.10 Robels (1989) also lists a variant of this painting, produced in the Snyders workshop, now in Barcelona.11 CF 1 See Koslow 1995, pp. 91–92, for connections with the poetic tradition in Snyders’ pantry scenes. 2 See ibid, p. 94. 3 Rowland 1973, pp. 38–39, 63–67, 99–100, 123–127; and Balis 1986, p. 226. 4 Segal 1983, p. 22ff. 5 Janson 1952, pp. 148–149. 6 Oil on canvas, 117 x 153 cm, sold at Sotheby’s, London, 8 April 1981, lot 173; for which see Greindl 1983, p. 378, no. 206, and Robels 1989, no. 74. 7 Oil on canvas, 117 x 169 cm, Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesamm- lungen, inv. no. 1714; for which see Robels 1989, no. A56. 8 Oil on canvas, 115 x 163.5 cm, sold at Parke Bernet, Los Angeles, 8 April 1973, lot 135; for which see Greindl 1983, p. 378, no. 225, and Robels 1989, no. A57. 9 Pen and brown ink, 352 x 215 mm, Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, inv. no. 8497; for which see Bock and Rosenberg, p. 174, and Robels 1989, no. Z43a (“early 1640s”). 10 Oil on canvas, 72 x 106.5 cm, sold at Sotheby’s, London, 3 February 1954, lot 137; for which see Greindl 1983, p. 353, no. 238 (as Jan Fyt), and Robels 1989, no. 159, repr. 11 Oil on canvas, 120 x 179 cm, Barcelona, priv. coll.; for which see Greindl 1956, p. 183, idem 1983, p. 376, no. 113, and Robels 1989, no. 73a.[End]
Motif categoryStill life
Collection
TechniquePainting
Object category
Keyword