Still Life; Bosschaert, Meléndez, and Peale

Luis Meléndez, Still Life with Figs and Bread, 1760s, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Patrons’ Permanent Fund 2000.6.1

Luis Meléndez, Spanish, 1716-1780

Spanish still life, in contrast to the Dutch, was entirely secular. It also had a distinctive look: the Spanish transformed arrangements of fruit, cheese, bread, and everyday objects into austere, mystical images. In the eighteenth century, Spanish still life reached its zenith in the work of Luis Meléndez.