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Willem Claesz Heda Dutch, 1593/1594 - 1680 Banquet Piece with Mince Pie, 1635 oil on canvas, 106.7 x 111.1 cm (42 x 43 3/4 in.) Patrons' Permanent Fund 1991.87.1 |
Object 4 of 8
Heda’s largest known painting appears, at first sight, to extend the hospitality of a sumptuous feast. Yet platters and knives teeter precariously over the table’s edge, while goblets and compotes already have toppled. More obvious symbols of life’s transience are at the left: a snuffed-out candle and a lemon, only half-peeled.
From the 1620s to the late 1640s, Dutch artists preferred a monochrome manner for their still lifes and landscapes. Heda was a master of such cool gray or warm tan color schemes. Here, the gold, silver, pewter, and Venetian glass play against a neutral setting and a white tablecloth. Somewhat later in the mid 1600s, brighter colors would characterize the classical period of Dutch painting.
A specialist in banquet still lifes, Heda also painted breakfasts and, as a writer in 1648 noted, “fruit, and all kinds of knick-knacks.” Willem Claesz. Heda taught several apprentices including his son, Gerrit Willemsz. Heda (the sz. at the end of many Dutch names is an abbreviation for szoon, meaning “son of”). Gerrit’s Still Life with Ham, dated 1650, reveals a strong debt to his father’s style and motifs.
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