Still life

A variety of objects have been arranged on a table: a silver drinking bowl, a green glass römerRömerA römer is a glass with a round bowl and a wide, hollow stem with prunts. These prunts differ from glass to glass: often they are designed to form a raspberry motif or they may be drawn out to form pointed prunts. These decorative motifs were probably intended to serve a practical purpose as well: to stop the glass slipping through loose fingers. The term 'römer' appears to stem from the German word for Roman: 'Römer'., a tankard and several plates. The generally subdued palette is contrasted by the vivid yellow of the lemon peel. MonochromeMonochromeMonochrome means 'one colour'. The term comes from the Greek word 'monochromos', meaning 'of one colour'. The word is also used for works of art (paintings) in which, although more than one colour is used, the number is nevertheless limited. still lifes were popular in the 1630s. Willem Claesz. Heda was a master of this genre. He was particularly adept at depicting silver and tin. He often used the same objects repeatedly. The silver bowl in this composition also graced a still life Heda painted the following year. This painting is also in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.