Vanitas to Nature Morte

From Caravaggio to Van Gogh, still life painting has been at the forefront of artistic movements from the time of ancient Egypt to the present day. Still life painting emerged as a distinct genre with many artists specialising in the subject, with the term “Still Life” coined in the Netherlands in the sixteenth-century, from the Dutch word stilleven. Like many genres of art, still life paintings allow us to read into the context of the period in which they were painted. They allow us the opportunity to explore symbolic references, and to understand how people lived and celebrated their daily lives.