Mary Beal School of Needlework
LESSON 1
Still Life with a Salt Cellar
This is an early 17th century still life painting by Jacob van Es. Still life paintings became popular in 17th century Europe. There were two main subjects that were popular. One was food and the tableware that went with it. Flower arrangements was another popular subject. Most of the famous food still life paintings had quite a variety of food. Often they added a monkey, or a dog, or maybe a mouse (eek!!!) on the table enjoying the feast. If they were not eating on the table, they were enjoying the crumbs that had fallen to the floor. I chose this painting because it has two elements that are in the first lesson of the school. There is the bread and the salt. I will explain what they mean in the lesson. The salt is in a salt cellar which was part of the tableware at that time. It was for holding and dispensing salt. If you look closely you can also see the chicken along with it’s HEAD on the plate right behind the bread. I think I would prefer a hamburger.