Still Life with a View of the Sea

Artist Jan Davidsz. de Heem (Dutch, born 1606, died 1683 or 1684)

Place of OriginNetherlands

Date1646

DimensionsH: 23 3/8 in. (59.3 cm); W: 36 1/2 in. (92.6 cm)

MediumOil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1955.33

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 22

Label TextJan Davidsz. de Heem presents a luscious meal painted with such mouth-watering detail that we can see the knife marks on the sliced ham and want to feel the dimples on the lemon (but please don’t!). The placement of the table suggests that we have just pulled up a chair and are ready to eat. The array of foods, the engraved silver beaker and mustard pot, and the velvet tablecloth and curtain create the effect of abundance and restrained luxury. The original owner of this painting probably would have enjoyed it primarily for its striking visual qualities. However, the seascape suggests that a 17th-century viewer may have also appreciated the painting on a different level. A ship tossed on a stormy sea was a traditional symbol of the soul journeying through the hazards of life. The sun breaking through the clouds to highlight the church spire points to the path of salvation. The meal, therefore, may represent the earthly temptations of the senses, which should only be enjoyed in moderation if the soul is to reach its destination safely.Published ReferencesBergström, Ingvar, Dutch Still-Life Painting in the Seventeenth Century, London, 1956, p. 204, no. 18, fig. 169.

Lindesmith, K., "The Good Things in Life," The Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, new series, vol. 1, no. 3, Fall 1957, p. 18, repr. p. 17.

"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums, April-June 1957," Art Quarterly, vol. XX, no. 3, Autumn 1957, p. 318, repr. p. 320.

Connoisseur, vol. 142, no. 571, Aug. 1958, p. 64.

"Important Recent Acquisitions by United States Museums," Illustrated London News, January 27, 1962, p. 145, repr.

Fine Arts, vol. 9, no. 441, November 18, 1962, part II (A Food and Wine Supplement) p. 7, repr.

Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts de Belgique, Le siècle de Rubens, 1965, no. 106, repr.

Wittmann, Otto, "The Golden Age in the Netherlands," Apollo, vol. 86, no. 70, Dec. 1967, p. 474, repr. (b&w), fig. 21, 475.

Ocvirk, Otto G., et. al., Art Fundamentals: Theory and Practice, 3rd ed., Dubuque, 1975, after p. 80, repr. pl. 38 (col.).

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, p. 75, pl. 123.

The Toledo Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1976, repr. p. 57.

Anderson, Jan, ed., Backgrounds to World Literature, vol. 1, Pensacola, FL, 1980, repr. (col.) p. 343.

Jongh, E. de, Still-Life in the Age of Rembrandt, Auckland, Auckland City Art Gallery, 1982, no. 8, pp. 85-87, repr. 84 and (col.) p. 12.

"Still Life in the Age of Rembrandt," Auckland City Art Gallery Newsletter, no. 5, Apr. - June 1982, repr. p. 1.

Goldstein, Nathan, Design and Composition, Englewood Clifs, 1989, p. 220, fig. 10.44.

Goedde, Lawrence O., "A Little World Made Cunningly: Dutch Still Life and Ekphasis," in Still Lifes of the Golden Age...The Heinz Family Collection, Washington, 1989, p. 38, repr. p. 39. (not in exhibition).

Segal, Sam, Jan Davidsz de Heem und sein Kreis, Brauschweig, 1991, p. 33, abb. 11.

Segal, Sam, Jan Davidsz de Heem en zijn kring, Gravenhage, 1991, p. 36, fig. 11, p. 35.

Fiero, Gloria K., The Age of the Baroque and the European Enlightenment: The Humanistic Tradition, Book 4, Dubuque, 1992, p. 44, fig. 22.3.

Meneau, Marc, Musee Gourmand: Le peintre et le cuisinier, Paris, 1992, repr. p. 36, (col.).

Flemish Paintings in America, Antwerp, 1992, repr. p. 339.

A Private View: American Paintings from the Manoogian Collection, New Haven, 1993, p. 93, fig. 2, p. 94.

Middlekoop, Norbert, The Golden Age of Dutch Art: Seventeenth Century Paintings from the Rijksmuseum and Australian Collections, Perth, 1997, p. 55, repr.

Berg, Maxine and Elizabeth Eger, eds., Luxury in the Eighteenth Century: Debates, Desires, and Delectable Goods, New York, Palgrave Macmillan Ltd., 2003, p. 50, repr. fig. 16.

Exhibition HistoryBrussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts de Belgique, Le siècle de Rubens, 1965, no. 106.

Auckland City Art Gallery; Christchurch, New Zealand, McDougall Art Gallery; Wellington, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; Dunedin, New Zealand, Dunedin Public Gallery, Still-Life in the Age of Rembrandt, 1982, no. 8.

Cleveland Museum of Art, Still-Life Paintings from the Netherlands 1550-1720, 1999, no. 30, pp. 172-173, repr. (col.) (as Fruit and Ham on a Table with a View of a City).

Toledo Museum of Art, Speaking Visual: Learning the Language of Art, Oct. 31, 2014-Jan. 25, 2015.