Looking past symbolism: meaning and Dutch still life 

Just when I think umm (as a game I play in my mind) maybe I could try and figure out what You are going to share before pushing the START button……then I am blown away by your thoughts and well-educated nuances of the history of art…..thanks for this gift on the second day of Advent…..

Thank you!

Just visited that museum in November, what a treat to see that section with Dutch paintings

I love and appreciate all your effort in your videos 😊

I live in the suburbs of Boston and have been to the MFA dozens of times. Thank you for providing such thoughtful analysis of a gorgeous, yet easy-to-pass-by painting.

OMG thank you so much for these videos! They really provide a lot of insights about paintings!

Another rule of those particular painters was … one metal, one ceramic, one organic, one fabric, etc. All of these objects had to relate to each other. And the artist had to treat each property with its own essence.. the viewer has to be able to feel, smell it, pick it up. And that ability meant you are going to sell well. The Master of this type of depiction was Willem Kalf.

Beautiful! I still think there is symbolism in the painting. fhe fact that the tazza is toppled, the wrinkles in the cloth. The scene is frozen chaos, not something you would see in a house. Who would not immediately put the burning rope in safe place?

Every element of this is so appealing in its own way. I want to touch (perhaps straighten out) the tablecloth. I want to suck on the shiny olives, feel the bubbles in the beer on my upper lip, and smell the tobacco. I agree that this is a triumphant mercantile object because it makes me want things I didn't even know I did before seeing it.

The way we see objects from different angles reminds me of cubism.