Still Life with Silver
A still life 2.6 meters tall of stacked silver, peaches and flower garlands, a major work by Desportes, court painter to Louis XIV and Louis XV. Full commentary ↓
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Still Life with Silver is an oil painting by Alexandre François Desportes (1720s) in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It measures 261.6 × 187.3 cm.
In the pictureSilver ewers and bowls, porcelain, and a silver platter heaped with peaches rise in tiers like an altar, with garlands of flowers winding up between them. At the very top is the head of a sculpture decked with flowers, and at upper left a garden view opens behind a red curtain. At the bottom, a single peach has rolled out onto the white cloth.
BackgroundAlexandre François Desportes was the court painter in charge of hunting pictures and still lifes for Louis XIV and Louis XV. Large still lifes like this hung on the walls of dining rooms or reception rooms, displaying the wealth of the royal household and the splendor of its table. The reflections on the silver, the blue patterns on the porcelain and the fuzz on the peach skins are each painted differently according to the material, so the closer you look, the more there is to see.
Puzzle tipWith so many elements on a tall canvas, it is actually a good picture to solve as a puzzle. Sort by color, the white highlights of the silver, the pink of the peaches, the multicolored garland pieces and the blue sky at upper right, finish each group, and then join them. It is a good picture for a first try at 300 pieces.
- Artist
- French, Champigneulle 1661–1743 Paris
- Classification
- Paintings
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 261.6 x 187.3 cm
- Credit line
- Purchase, Mary Wetmore Shively Bequest, in memory of her husband, Henry L. Shively, M.D., 1964
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
In these collections: Flower Painting Puzzles
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