Materialism & Symbolism in Dutch Golden Age Still Lifes
Dutch Golden Age still life paintings are a layered cake. Layers of extreme materialism alternate with symbolic layers of Christian dogma. The luxury goods in the paintings satisfy the sweet tooth of materialism and symbolism adds substance to the cake. But is the essence of the paintings decadent, or is it moralizing? Let’s take a closer look at the relationship between materialism and symbolism in the Dutch Golden Age still lifes.
Materialism in Dutch Golden Age Still Lifes
When you look at Dutch Golden Age still lifes with modern eyes they are very beautiful, aesthetically. But they are also very politically uncorrect, anti-woke and anti-green. The decadent displays of expensive cultivated flowers, luxury foods and luxury objects brought home from the colonies by the rich, white colonizers express an extreme materialism and a world view that can be hard to swallow today. Those merchants clearly didn’t think about food waste, biodiversity, carbon footprint or ‘less is more’ minimalism!
But were the Dutch merchants simply the rappers with thick gold chains and flashy cars of their time? Are the paintings simply Baroque bling? Let’s take a closer look at how the developments in society intertwine with the developments in the art world.
Were the Dutch merchants simply the rappers with thick gold chains and flashy cars of their time? Are the paintings simply Baroque bling?
Merchants & Artists
In the Dutch Golden Age the emerging merchant class provided a buyer’s market for still life artists. The merchants were well-to-do and wanted to show off their wealth. One way of doing that was by buying luxury goods from the colonies (and showing them off). Another way was by purchasing art. And even better yet was to combine the two; to commission art that showed off their luxury goods. This new business opportunity for still life painters helped pave the way for new subgenres of still life painting.
New Subgenres of Still Lifes
Still lifes underwent a great development in the Dutch Golden Age. Still life images had existed before, but it was not until The Dutch Golden Age that still lifes became a genre in its own right. There were many varities of still lifes. Existing subgenres developed and new subgenres were born.
‘Banketje’ Still Lifes
Up until now food still lifes had been dominated by ‘ontbijtjes’ (NL. ‘breakfasts’) still lifes. These were simple and modest, showing everyday ingredients, meals and crockery. In that respect they were closely related to the simple and austere Spanish ‘bodegons’.
But the new merchant class were not simple farmers. And they were not modest. They were rich and wanted the world to know. Food still lifes could be used to show off their affluent lifestyle. So the modest ‘Ontbijtjes’ developed into ‘Banketjes’ (NL. ‘banquets’). Ingredients and simple meals were replaced by lavish banquets with luxury foods. Large shellfish and exotic fruits filled canvasses. The paintings displayed feasts that were worthy of kings and queens.
‘Pronk’ Still Lifes
In addition to showing off wealth with luxury foods, the logical step was to also show off wealth with luxury goods. So fine china, glassware and silverware joined the luxury foods in ‘Pronk’ (NL. ‘ostentatious’) still lifes. Some pronk still lifes were a combination of food and objects, others focused solely on objects.
‘Vanitas’ Still Lifes
Pronk still lifes were not the only subgenre of still lifes that featured objects. Another, and perhaps even more well-known today, was the vanitas (lat. ‘vanity’).
Vanitas were not used to express wealth, but instead the Christian dogma of the Calvinist Dutch. It was a highly moralizing genre. Every object in a vanitas still life had a symbolic meaning. These symbols all expressed the Christian dogma that worldly goods and pleasures are futile, life is short and death is certain.
Floral Still Life
Floral still lifes was one of the most popular still life subgenres. They are a feast for the eyes – then and today. A bouquet of flowers might seem innocent, natural and in no way materialistic. But these were bouquets of cultivated flowers. The Dutch took great pride in cultivation, particularly cultivation of tulips. They were so crazy about tulips that it is referred to as ‘Tulip Mania’. Tulip bulbs reached outrageous prices and in 1637 the bubble burst, the first economic bubble. So theses flowers were not simply flowers. They were also status symbols.
> Rachel Ruysch – 17th Century superstar Artist / Superwoman
Symbolism in Dutch Golden Age Still Lifes
Now we’ve satisfied the sweet tooth of materialism and tasted the tempting part of the layered cake – the filling, the icing and the sprinkles. Now let’s move on to the cake layers and add substance to the layered cake. Let’s look at the symbolism in the Dutch Golden Age still life paintings.
Because there’s more to the still lifes paintings than simple materialsm. Symbolism adds another layer to these artworks. The symbols used in Dutch Golden Age still lifes fall into 3 categories: earthly life/wealth, mortality and Christianity. The overall story told through symbolism is of the contrast between earthly life and death/eternal life.
The overall story in the still lifes is the contrast between pleasurable earthly life and death/eternal life.
Let’s tak a closer look at the symbols used in the still lifes. The symbols fall into 4 categories: food, flowers, animals and objects.
Food Symbolism
The symbolic language of food works both on a general and a specific level. On a general level fresh food symbolizes abundance and riches. Decaying and rotten food, on the other hand, symbolizes ageing, mortality and death. Food symbolism also works on a specific level. Each piece of food has its own distinct meaning. Let’s take a closer look at them.
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- Lobster, shellfish or meat = wealth, gluttony and temptation
- Fish, lamb = Jesus
- Bread = everyday life, humility, the body of Christ
- Bread + wine = the Eucharist
- Grape = blood of Christ
- Pomegranate = fertility or the Church
- Apple = temptation
- Lemon = the bittersweetness of life
- Peach = good health
Flower Symbolism
Just like in food symbolism the symbolic language of flowers also works on both a general and a specific level. On a general level wilting and drooping flowers symbolize decay and death. And the expensive cultivated flowers represent wealth. On a specific level the individual flowers each have their own specific meaning. Let’s take a closer look at them.
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- Rose = Virgin Mary, Venus, love
- Tulip = nobility
- Violet = modesty
- Sunflower = divine love and devotion
- Carnation = resurrection and eternal life
- Ivy = resurrection
- Poppy = death, laziness
- Wheat = Christ, immortallity and resurrection
Animal Symbolism
Animal symbolism also works on both a general and a specific level. Dead animals symbolize death and all the creepy crawlers on and near food symbolize the imminent decay and death. On top of that, the living animals each have their own specific meaning. Let’s take a closer look at them.
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- Turtle = long life
- Ant = hard working
- Bee = industriousness or how helpless we are against the course of destiny
- Butterfly = transformation, the resurrection of Christ
- Dragonfly = the devil
Object Symbolism
Objects appear in both the pronk still lifes and in the vanitas. In the pronk still lifes the luxury objects symbolize wealth on a general level. In the vanitas still lifes the story/message is conveyed solely through objects. Each specific object has a symbolic meaning. Let’s take a closer look at them.
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- Globe = the earth and the sky
- Glass = a life of luxury
- Book = pride in knowledge
- Violin/musical instrument = pleasure, the futility of earthly existence (easily snapped strings symbolize the broken threads of time)
- Chalice = Christian Church
- Overturned glass/vessel = emptiness of life
- Broken vessels = loss of innocense
- seashell = birth, resurrection
- Chaplet (prayer beads) = resurrection
Memento Mori symbols
Vanitas still lifes all tell the story that earthly life is fleeting and futile and death is inevitable. Memento mori (Lat. ‘remember you must die’) symbols recur in all vanitas and function as reminders of mortality and death. Let’s take a closer look at these symbols.
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- Skull = mortality
- Hourglass = passage of time
- Watch = passage of time
- Candle = life burning out
- Bubble = evanescence
Were the Dutch Decadents or Moralizers?
The still lifes of the Dutch Golden Age were a layered cake of materialism and Christian dogma. The two go hand in hand. But which is more important? Were they predominantly flashy rappers or were they pious priests? Decadents or moralizers?
Moralizing Messages
It is common belief that the still lifes are moralizing. That the materialistic and decadent elements in the still lifes are simply a storytelling element that helps tell the story that earthly life is empty. One shouldn’t be too attached to beauty and wealth. That all sounds very pious. But is that really all there is to it? Were the Dutch really that pious? Or were they closet decadents?
Joy in Decadence
Maybe it was the other way around. Maybe the religious and memento mori symbols were added to the still lifes, as a justification for wallowing in all the material wealth and sensousness displayed in the still lifes. Maybe beauty lovers needed that excuse in the Calvinist Dutch Republic.
Maybe the religious symbols were added to the paintings, as a justification for wallowing in material wealth and sensousness.
There is an awful lot of focus on the beauty of the objects and flowers and the deliciousness of the food, if the only point of the paintings was that these things were of no real importance.
One thing is certain, the paintings are delicious eye candy that can be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of their religious disposition. And regardless of their birth date. Because the paintings are as delicious today as they were 400 years ago.
So what do you think? Were the still lifes pious and moralizing, or were they materialistic and decadent?
Leave a comment!
Further Readings
Online Articles
- The Secret Language of Still Lifes (messynessychic.com)
- Secret Symbols in Still Life Painting (bbc.com)
- A Symbolism Guide To the Spooky World of Dutch Still-Lives (artspace.com)
- Decoding the Hidden Meanings in Still Life Painting (blog.mearto.com)
- A Small Guide to Still Life Symbols (Part 1) (Daily Art Magazine)
- Still Life Symbolism, or symbols in still life, what do they mean? (Easy Oil Painting Techniques)
- Dutch still lifes and landscapes of the 1600s (National Gallery of Art)
- The Significance of the Still Life During the Dutch Golden Age (The Culture Trip)
- Still Life – Making,Meaning and Market: 17th Century Dutch Painting from the Hunterian Gallery (University of Glasgow)
- 1o Common Symbols in Still-Life Paintings & What They Mean (The Collector)
BooksÂ
- Nature and Its Symbols (Guide to Imagery) (Impelluso)
- A Closer Look: Still Life (Erika Langmuir)
- Still Life (Gian Casper Bott)
- Dutch Flower Painting, 1600-1750 (Paul Taylor)
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