STILL LIFE


1 What was the original subject and meaning of still life pictures?
They were interior decoration in Roman Houses
They were a joke about reality.
They referred to the gift of food for house guests, who were expected to cook it for themselves.
They appealed to as many senses as possible.
They meant to be visually convincing.
2 What kind of artistic truth did still life artists employ in Ancient Rome?
Evocative.
Symbolic.
Visual.
Intellectual.
Illusionism.
3 What is the single most important visual component of Ancient Roman still lifes?
Food.
False picture plane.
Modelling in light and shade.
Foreshortening.
Linear perspective.
4 What is the effect of placing a foreshortened object (such as a dish) so that it appears to overlap the picture plane?
It seems more real.
It sticks out into our space.
The pictures aren't very realistic, so there is no effect.
It seems more real because it appears to project into our own space. We think we can touch it.
It looks more three-dimensional.
5 Does the Ancient Roman still life typically have a static, dynamic or lyrical composition?
Static. It is full of horizontal and vertical forms, smoothly finished, and the objects tend to be separate from each other.
Dynamic. There are several objects placed diagonally so that they will have to fall, so the image is dynamic.
Lyrical. There are lots of curved objects and much use of blue.
A mixture of all three.
What is a composition?
6 The still life is static and unusually illusionistic. What senses does it try to stimulate?
Taste. The fruit, seafood, game (rotting meat - a delicacy, really!) and wine all have strong characteristic tastes, easily imagined.
Touch. At least one object sticks out into our space, and there are textures like birdfeathers, embossed silver, and knapkins.
Smell. Many of the foodstuffs have strong smells.
Sound. Objects are about to fall and we can just imagine the noise when that happens.
Sight, sound, touch, taste, smell - all five.
7 So what does the Ancient Roman still life seem to be about?
It is a joke.
It is about the transience of life. Everything in these images is perishable.
It is a reference to the gift of food to house guests, and a reminder that they can always ask for more.
It is pure decoration.
It is a joke about manners and depends on the fact that you are meant to take and cook this food. If you so much as touch it, it will fall and embarass you with loud noise and mess, and your host will have to be tactful - or throw you out for bad manners.
8 What visual techniques are used in Baroque still lifes?
All the same ones as in the Ancient Roman still lifes, plus tenebrism.
They have watches, carpets and flowers. And insects.
All the same ones as in the Ancient Roman still lifes, but much more highly developed..
They appeal to all the senses.
They remind you that all things pass and you too will die.
9 What new content appears in the Baroque still lifes that did not appear in Ancient Roman ones?
Flowers, insects, watches, oriental silk carpets, coffee.
Wine glasses.
Ginger jars.
Lobsters, mussels and oysters.
Snails.
10 How does the new content in Baroque still lifes affect their meaning?
They all give the artist a chance to show how good he is.
The insects and snails all destroy food and flowers. The flowers dies very quickly. Watches mark the passage of time. These add the idea that all things pass (and we better look to our souls).
I don't think the carpets and ginger jars and wine glasses add anything that wasn't already there.
They make it appeal to your senses much more strongly, so they increase importance of the meaning.
What about those carafes full of water, and the oranges (golden apples - forbidden fruit). Don't they suggest religious content?
11 So the main difference in nature between Ancient Roman and Baroque still lifes is ...?
One was a joke and the other was serious.
The Baroque still life was infinitely more realistic than the Ancient Roman one, and therefore better.
The Ancient Roman one was a joke about social manners, and the Baroque ones added the idea that all things pass and we'd better examine our consciences.
There was no difference in nature. The Baroque ones were merely done better.
One was frescoed and one was done in oil.