Wandering through the corridors of a museum sometimes becomes quite a philosophical experience. We enter a room to observe different expressions of art that possibly acquire a special meaning in our minds. Imagine that in this digital museum we will enter the room of still life, the meaning of a space of homage to the elements of the Earth.
In a still life painting there are usually flowers, fruits and everything that looked like a beautiful ornament. At the beginning of time this technique was recognized as «still life», later as «vases» and much later as ornamental painting. But behind this decoration technique there is much more than just fruits or flowers.
Google Art Project
Meaning of still life
The phrase «still life» really has a lot more meaning than everyone imagines. The word «nature» originates from the Latin nature, which comes from natuswhose equivalent in Spanish is “nacer”.
The opposite of being born is dying and from this sense “still life” is a phrase that gives off an interesting paradox. Determining a flower painting as still life is in itself a reflection on life and death.
KHM-Museumsverband
How can life itself be portrayed through death? This is undoubtedly a philosophical walk away from the history of painting itself. Although art becomes a physical object to be admired, the reality is that the paintings of this technique become a way of navigating one’s existence.
Great painters not only portrayed the great moments of nature. There are different paintings that captured withered petals, almost rotten dark brown flowers. Many are a reminder of the transience of life. Although the flowers remain inanimate in the paintings for centuries, these determine the brevity of life.
«Whoever claims that their beauty or their wealth are fixed forever lives in deceit»- Vanitas
Memory of the Netherlands
The ancient art history of life and death
Until now the oldest still lifes were found in Egypt, some dating from the 15th century BC. These include the representation of food such as meat or fish and crops. The most famous was found in the Tomb of Menna, a site that details life on all of its walls.
Menna was a scribe of the fields of the Lord of the two lands of upper and lower Egypt. His job was to supervise the field, agricultural activities, hunting and fishing. For this reason his tomb is full of representations of food and life.
ART Collection/Alamy
However, it was not until the Renaissance that the art of adornment became popular. Paintings of flowers and pieces of colorful plants became the center of attention in the 17th century, when Nordic artists captured everyday objects with greater precision and essence until they were brought to life. vanitas.
The vanitas were the works inspired by the real meaning of still life. The memento moria genre of art that translates as “remember that you will die”. These pieces not only capture still life, they also incorporate human skulls, clocks, candles, wine, and musical instruments; everything that reminded of the mundane pleasures of life and the transience of time.
Now if our tour of the still life room has finished and perhaps on your next visits you will be able to admire the paintings of great artists with greater meaning. Likewise, you will be able to remember that behind that colorful beauty there is a reminder of our mortality.
Wikimedia Commons
Keep reading: The mystical geometry of nature: living examples that share the golden ratio (📸)
It might interest you