Beskrivning: Den förgyllda konfektskålen, fylld med vindruvor, är fokus i bilden. Den står i en nisch, omgiven av frukter och föremål som alla signalerar rikedom och överflöd. I skuggan bakom skålen syns ett keramikkärl och på den smala kanten står både dyrbart blåvitt porslin från Kina och ett venetianskt glas. Perspektivet i målningen, där betraktaren tänks stå lite nedanför bilden, visar att den är avsedd att hängas högt upp, kanske över en dörröppning.
 

Description: The shallow bowl, a so-called tazza, filled with grapes, is the focus of the image. It stands in a niche, surrounded by fruits and objects that all signal wealth and abundance. In the shadow behind the bowl is an earthenware jar and on the narrow ledge there is both precious blue and white Wan li-porcelain and a Venetian glass. The low viewpoint of this painting suggests that it was intended to be hung high, perhaps over a doorway.

Catalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 183:
 
Technical notes: The painting’s support is an oak
panel (± 0.4 cm thick) constructed of three vertical, buttjoined,
radial boards with vertical grain. The panel has
been thinned and a cradle attached on the verso. No bevelling
is visible along the top and bottom edges on the
verso (the left and right edges are concealed by the cradle).
The panel was probably cut down slightly at the
top, left and right sides, where parts of the motif, several
vine leaves and a plain earthenware jug (at the lower
right), have been truncated. The present dimensions may
be compared with those of the three known copies after
Snyders’ composition at Düsseldorf (Museum Kunst
Palast),1Warsaw (National Museum),2 and formerly on
the Dutch art market,3 which are all wider and slightly
taller, ranging between h. 91/92.5 and w. 70.5/71 cm.
Exposed dowels are visible in the joins between the
boards on the verso: three in the join between the right
and centre boards and one towards the top of the join
between the left and centre boards. Scattered worm holes
and exposed tunnels are visible on the verso. Several
short vertical cracks in the panel near the left edge, and
another, c. 17.5 cm long, at bottom left of centre, have
been repaired and reinforced on the verso with pieces of
wood. Dendrochronological examination and analysis
have determined a felling date for the tree between c.
1600 and 1610. The wood originates from the Baltic
region. Under the assumption of a median of 15 sapwood
rings and a minimum of 2 years for seasoning of the
wood, the panel would have been available for use in
1606 or later.

The panel was prepared with a white brush-applied
ground layer, containing chalk, followed by a “streaky”
light grey imprimatura applied with a broad brush diagonally
from upper left to lower right, visible in infrared
reflectogram mosaics as well as with the naked
eye in thinly painted areas such as the Chinese porcelain
dishes in the right foreground (where it serves as a base
tone) and the trompe-l’oeil “stone” wall and niche.
Infrared reflectography detected traces of a concise dark
underdrawing, probably executed in a dry medium such
as black chalk, providing simple outlines of individual
forms (the grapes with their stems and leaves; the rim of
the tazza and chased decoration on the underside of the
bowl; the China dishes; the oranges) and of the architectural
setting (the niche and ledge). Although consisting
of rather precise contour lines, the drawing was not
always followed during the final painting stage.
Paint is applied quite thinly in the lighter grey areas of
the “stone” wall and niche, with rich impastos in the brilliant
white or bright yellow highlights on the semitranslucent
grapes, and picking out the curled edges and
veins of each vine leaf, the bottom of the arched recess
and “stone” ledge below, the rims of the delicate Wan-li
porcelain dishes and Venetian wine glass, and the rim
and decorations of the gleaming gilt tazza. A warm light
reddish-brown underpaint that functions as dead-colouring
can be observed in the tazza itself and in the bunches
of light green grapes in the tazza – but not those lying on
the narrow ledge at lower left – and in the shaded areas
of the interior of the recessed niche at the left. Thus, in
some of the light green grapes just a few broadly brushed
tones are used to describe the volume of each fruit, its
lustrous and matte surfaces: a basic light green or bluegreen
semi-translucent colour is applied as a middle tone
over the reddish-brown dead-colour that remains visible
throughout, followed by darker and lighter hues, and
flecks of white added as highlights. The rough texture of
the orange peel is imitated using pointillistic touches of
thick yellow and red paint applied wet-into-wet, lending
vibrancy to the surface. Apart from frequent, slight contour
adjustments during the painting process, a few pentimenti
have become visible to the naked eye and/or are
observable through infrared reflectography: the changed
shape of the vine leaf overlapping the bowl of the tazza
on the right and of the large leaf at the upper right; the
adjustment of the left contour of the leaf at top centre,
which does not appear to be attached to a stem, as if
added at a late stage in the development of the composition.

The painting is generally in very good condition. A
thick layer of old varnish is present, only slightly discoloured,
but showing a pronounced overall craquelure.
Retouching covers slight abrasion and small flaked losses
along the edges, especially at bottom right, and along the
repaired vertical cracks in the support (see above). The
painting underwent conservation treatment in 1870 and
1931.

Provenance: Gustav III 1792, no. 53; KM 1816, no.
986.

Exhibited: Stockholm 1977/1978, no. 93. Stockholm
1995, no. 161; Stockholm 2010, no. 85.

Bibliography: NM Cat. 1867, p. 46; Sander II, p. 106;
Göthe 1887, p. 247; Göthe 1893, p. 303; Göthe 1900, p.
313; Granberg 1911-1913, III, pp. 6-7 no. 18; Greindl
1956, pp. 55, 82; Nordenfalk 1958, p. 186; Robels 1969,
pp. 80-82, fig. 70; Greindl 1983, pp. 79, 375 no. 79, fig.
209; Robels 1989, pp. 78, 257 no. 119; NM Cat. 1990, p.
335; Koslow 1995, p. 80, fig. 96.

In this still life a gleaming gilt tazza overflowing with
bunches of light green and purplish-blue grapes with
their foliage is displayed within the arched recess of an
illusionistically rendered stone niche, its edges overlapped
by curling vine leaves and elegantly spiralling
tendrils that enliven the composition. Beside the tazza,
on the right, are some figs and, on the left, a large pomegranate
sliced open to reveal its succulent flesh. Deep
inside the niche, half-concealed in the shadow cast by
the tazza, is a decorated earthenware jar covered by a lid.
On a narrow ledge in front of and below the arched
recess are, on the right, a set of costly blue-and-white
Wan-li porcelain dishes, a plain earthenware jug (partially
visible at the far right), a delicate, empty wine glass à la
façon de Venise and some exotic imported oranges; and,
on the left, bunches of light green and purplish-blue
grapes. The precious plate enhances the beauty of the
various fruits and also indicates their great value. Seen in
close proximity, the objects depicted have a striking tactile
immediacy. The foot of the gilt tazza, precariously
balanced at the very edge of the arched recess, the rim of
the Wan-li bowl, the vine leaves and grapes at the lower
left, seem physically to project into the viewer’s space. A
bright cool light illumines the still life objects, while the
space inside the arched recess, which remains almost
entirely in darkness, serves as a foil for the foremost
object depicted, the tazza of grapes.

In addition to his more elaborate fruit- and game
still lifes shown in a pantry or a kitchen alcove, Snyders
also painted many intimate, cabinet-size still life
compositions such as the present picture, depicting
just a few choice objects.4 The earliest dated examples
by Snyders are two signed panels, both of 1613, now
in a French private collection (formerly Galerie
Robert Finck, Brussels)5 and the Singer Museum in
Laren (Van Dongen Collectie).6 Robels (1969) and
Koslow (1995) both date the present picture to the
1610s, Koslow to the early 1610s, a date supported by
the recent dendrochronological examination (see
Technical Notes). The narrow vertical format and low
viewpoint of the picture suggest that it may initially
have functioned as an over-door.

According to Robels (1989), the niche depicted in
the present picture reinforces the Eucharistic associations
of the central motif of grapes, while the pomegranate,
figs and oranges can all be interpreted as
Christological or paradisiacal symbols. Koslow (1995),
on the contrary, argues that the primary allusions of
images such as this, depicting bowls or baskets of fruit,
are entirely secular, associated with various types of
allegorical representations, such as images of Abundance
(Abundantia) and Charity (Caritas), whose attributes
include fruit in baskets and cornucopias, and with
a type of small still life pictures of foodstuffs painted in
antiquity and known almost exclusively from literary
descriptions.7

The principal motif of this painting, the illusionistically
rendered tazza of grapes, immediately calls to
mind a common topos of art theoretical writings since
classical antiquity: as told by Pliny the Elder in his
Natural History, the 4th century Greek painter Zeuxis
depicted grapes “so successfully” that birds mistook
his picture for reality and flew directly into it.8 This
and related anecdotes about art tricking Nature indicates
that verisimilitude is an important criterion for
evaluating ancient still life, a point well known to and
appreciated by post-Renaissance practitioners of the
genre. Another possible clue to the meaning of the
present picture is provided by the inscription on a still
life of bunches of grapes, a wine ewer and a rummer by
Dutch artist Jan Davidsz. de Heem, focused on the
theme of “Temperance”, or keeping measure. According
to this inscription, the beauty of Bacchus’ products
– the grapes and the wine made from them – is enticing,
but one should be aware of the results of excessive
indulgence in them: “In this way Bacchus deceives the
eyes/Both with grapes and vine/Thus he has cheated
many/Who do not open their eyes”.9

Unlike many of his large-scale still lifes and hunting
pieces, Snyders’ small format still lifes are generally
unique pieces. Robels (1989) lists three faithful copies
of the present painting, all of approximately the same
size as the Stockholm original, none of them apparently
by Snyders’ hand: in Düsseldorf (Museum Kunst
Palast), in Warsaw (Nationalmuseum), and formerly
on the Dutch art market (see under Technical Notes).
Individual objects in the present still life, such as the
elegant gilt tazza, its tall foot decorated with three delicate
griffons, recur in numerous contemporary and
later compositions by the artist.
CF

1 Oil on wood, 91.5 x 71 cm, Düsseldorf, Museum Kunst Palast, inv. no. M
2001–14; for which see Robels 1989, p. 258 no. 119a; and Vienna/Essen
2002, no. 41 (U. Kleinmann).
2 Oil on 92.5 x 70.5 cm, Warsaw, Nationalmuseum, inv. no. 181829, as
Joris van Son; for which see ibid, p. 258 no. 119b.
3 Oil on wood, 91 x 70.5 cm, formerly Amsterdam, Gebr. Douwes, 1928, as
Anon. master; for which see ibid, p. 258 no. 119c.
4 Robels 1989, pp. 75–87.
5 Ibid, no. 110, repr.
6 Ibid, no. 113, repr.
7 See Koslow 1995, p. 80, and for a more general discussion of the xenion,
pp. 45 ff.
8 See Pliny the Elder, Natural History (Loeb Classical Library), trans. H.
Rackham et al. (Cambridge, Mass./London, 1979), vol. 9.
9 Jan Davidsz. de Heem, Bacchus Ciraet, 1645 (priv. coll.). Cited by Meijer
2003, the Dutch inscription reads as follows: “Soo vermomt Bacchus de
oogen/Soo met druijven soo met groen/Soo heft hije veel bedroogen/Die
geen oogen open doen…” (p. 24 and n. 8) [End]

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Frans Snyders | Stilleben med fruktskål i en nisch | Nationalmuseum

Frans Snyders | Still Life with Fruit Bowl in a Niche | Nationalmuseum

Titel (sv): Stilleben med fruktskål i en nisch
Titel (en): Still Life with Fruit Bowl in a Niche
Titel (en): Still Life with a Tazza of Grapes in a Niche

Title (sv): Stilleben med fruktskål i en nisch
Title (en): Still Life with Fruit Bowl in a Niche
Title (en): Still Life with a Tazza of Grapes in a Niche