1. a painting or drawing of objects such as fruit or flowers
2. this kind of painting or drawing
A Still Life is a work of art, a drawing or painting (usually) of a group of objects. Objects do not move, hence the word still life. In the paste these objects tended to be flowers, fruit and other kinds of food or dead animals - hence 'life'. The French for still life is 'nature morte' meaning 'dead nature'. Still life means any object small enough to be put in front of you, usually on a table.
Many painters used still life scene as part of their composition:
Christ at Emmaus - Caravaggio
(left) The fruit, bread and wine on the table present a meaningful still life in this painting.
The Ambassadors - Holbein
(right) The scientific instruments on the table between the two men show they are men of learning.
No comments:
Post a Comment