Still Life
Still Life
Late on a sunny morning, the light slides round the edge of a door to the south side of the Saloon. Opening it, you find a handsome high square room with marmalade-coloured walls. A distinguished mirror framed by a large fern faces towards you whilst richly framed paintings are hung two or three high around the walls. This is the so-called Smoking Room where gentlemen would retire to after dinner to smoke their cigars although the 5th Earl used it to display his archaeological treasures.
It feels a very traditional room, peaceful and still. However, what draws the eye are the paintings – a mixture of landscapes and still lifes. The subject matter of the still lifes is typically commonplace:
objects either from nature such as food or flowers, dead animals, rocks and shells and so on, often interspersed with those created by humans such as drinking glasses, books, vases, jewellery and coins.
These days, some people find still lifes slightly gruesome in their depictions of dead animals but the detailed realism and the hidden symbols within such paintings appealed to the growing Dutch middle class of the 17th and 18th centuries which is when so many of these paintings date from. It was a secret language. By 1700, the market for still lifes had spread throughout Europe.
Flower paintings in oils became very coveted and were especially prominent in the early 1600s. Their intense colours and shapes feature in many Dutch still lives of this time with tulips becoming particularly popular. Such paintings are a permanent reminder of the Dutch tulip craze which reached its height in 1637 – it is considered the first recorded speculative bubble in history. Tulips were eagerly collected and studied by botanists, painted by artists, and collected by connoisseurs and thus became collectibles both as plants and as art. It all merged to create a very strong market which inevitably went bust.
The term “still life” derives from the Dutch word ‘stilleven’, which became the collective name for the genre from about 1650. Paintings which focused on ‘natures mortes’ were especially popular in the Netherlands during the 17th century and symbolised the themes of material decay and the futility of worldly life – ‘Memento Mori’. Food and flowers appear as symbols of the seasons and of the five senses as well as developing the Roman tradition of the use of a skull in paintings as a symbol of mortality: death makes all equal.
The most impressive painting in the Smoking Room is a still life by the 17th century Dutch artist Jan Weenix. Ironically, although Weenix spent most of his life in Utrecht, many of his best works are to be found in English private collections. The painting’s setting is an imaginary formal parkland similar to those associated with the aristocratic estates being created in the Netherlands in the latter part of the seventeenth century. This forms a romantic, classical backdrop for an array of game and fruit.
Three hundred and fifty years ago Weenix’s work was much admired for its depth of colour and the detail in which he rendered the texture. The famous Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German polymath and immensely influential writer, devoted a poem to Weenix’s technique. Among his various talents and interests, Goethe himself was a keen amateur artist whose preference for the classical style derived from his belief in its resistance to change and he was much impressed by the Jan Weenix pictures he saw in Munich.
Perhaps it is these classical references and deep colours which create the sense of calm harmony in this room: paintings full of nature and still calm water, of rich textures and deep old fashioned gilt frames. They may be from a different time and world but still have things to teach us today.
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38 Comments
Lovely the pictures of still life and did you and lord Carnarvon have a wonderful weekend and I am fan of Downton Abbey and highcelere castle
Great article Lady Carnarvon. Still life painting was my favourite in school. I've kept only one that's a pen and ink drawing with watercolours from my high school days. (47 yrs ago) While rumaging through my mother's hope chest, I also found her still life work on canvas when she was just learning to paint. My guess would be the mid 1930's.
I'm intrigued by the “hidden symbols” in these paintings!
I especially enjoy the beautiful clear, complete, in-focus colour images of paintings displayed there in Highclere. Wonderful!
Dear Lady Fiona,i went into Your magical castle in April 12 whit Enrica Roddolo ,the group from Milano.
I still in my mind You playng with dogs,a very beautiful vision!
It was a real honor spending time whit You and I would like to tank You again fore the warm and wonderful welcome.
I hope to retour here as soon as possible!
My best regards ma’am
Silvia Olivelli
Beautiful ,thank you x
Thank you so much! Lovely to read this. I just visited Highclere Castle last Thursday with my husband , but missed this painting, sorry, so much to see! I was born in Utrecht so will have to come back! From a library in the Netherlands i saw a picture from a painted tulip and it’s price! 3000 guilders for a tulip! Thank you so much! (By the way i loved all the yellow flowers in the grass so much! )
I almost always learn something new from your Monday writings. Thank you for the art history lesson today on Dutch Still Life painting.
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
You capture the complex history, technique and symbolism of a rich and beautiful genre in painting. I wouldn’t know where to begin!! And I had no idea that Goethe had artistic talent! Thank you for this wonderful post. As an art history & education major in college, it took me back to my classes where we looked at incredibly beautiful creations…the power of human ability and imagination.
Thank you, and be well!
Best regards,
Charlotte Merriam Cole
Amazing! Thank you sooo much for taking time and sharing this with „us“!
Do you paint too?
Merci de partager ces superbes tableaux avec nous et vos commentaires sont toujours juste, bonne journée.
Thank you for sharing these great chats with us have a good day
Still Lives are not boring .. which I think was part of my schooltime impression!!!
Thank you
Thank you - yes do come back ...
I look forward to seeing you again
We all like secrets...
Just taking time - its funny I want to take time now but never took enough time years ago!
Thank you for the beautiful photos of the smoking room. On the day I visited, it was cloudy, thus didn’t get the benefit of how sunlight brightens the room. Next visit I’ll bring sunshine. ;-)
I enjoyed this blog "Still Life" for several reasons, especially because it evoked wonderful memories of my humanities classes of '65 and '66 at Berea College, Kentucky. The clarity of the photography is appreciated, and then especially your writing makes these posts a pleasure to read. Seeing Jan Weenix's painting with its secret language and symbols above the mantel in that impressive room was punctuation to your essay! Thank you so much for all your blogs.
please do!
Thank you for reading them
Lady Carnarvon,
The paintings stay in my mind from our visit to Highclere. The deep colors and stunning detail and talent of Weenix always impress me. Your home is a lovely museum to these artists. Thank you!
Martha G.
Lady Carnarvon. I had the privalige of visiting your beautiful home on several occasions years ago
Plus I have watched everything on TV or news about you and your family.
I will be 90 years old my coming up birthday and wished for one more visit toEngland but so
Far it’s just a wish. I cherish my many visits and love looking at pictures of England and Wales.
My best wishes to you and yours. Sharon Watson Woods Alabama, USA
History is laid out before you through paintings in your home. We can make assumptions about what life was like and how people thought through them as books. I’m curious about what assumptions future generations 400 years from now will have about us, should humanity still exist.
Rather agree - this September's event 'A weekend to remember' is about just stopping to think about that. If some of it is more thoughtful is it nevertheless dressed in music song and enterainemnt
Thank you - I have been to Alabama by the way!
Thank you and I hope lives on
Absolutely stunning
I always have dreams that I am in Highclere
Dear Lady,
Quite poetical. Thank you for this tour.
Lady Carnarvon,
Absolutely beautiful and peaceful. Reminds me when I was sitting in my art class in school. Every day life stands still in every detail. It's amazing.
Thank you
Dear Lady Carvarvon,
I have a question in regards to the painting of King Charles the 1st in your dining room. I visited Highclere last month of april 15th and Kensington Palace on april 17th. At the palace in the Ball room there is the same painting of King Charles the 1st. Listening to the audio guide at the palace it said that it was a copy. Is yours the original? I have seen your video talking about it on Viking.tv and the way you talk about it it gave me the impression that it would be the original. Unfortunatly while I was in the Ball room at the palace there was no guide for me to ask the question. Thank you for letting us visit Highclere Castle, your beautiful home and I wish you and your family all the best and look forward to your next blogs. King regards, Nathalie Lemieux from Canada.
Last Carnarvon,
Two things that struck me upon first glance of your photos: the lovely light reflected through the marmalade walls; and the wonderful space in the room. This is a marvel for me as I’ve lived in tiny houses for decades now, moving from 145 square feet up to 584 square feet (which i share with a friend!).
The light is so important in a tiny house, along with careful choice of paintings, plants, and furniture.
It must have been so much fun for you to add your personal touch to the existing lovely objects at Highclere. And the joy of learning from these historical objects!
Thanks for the reminder about the symbolism in the still life paintings!
Sunny
From Canada
Thank you, Lady Carnarvon.
The interior of Highclere Castle is always interesting. My favourite painting is the floral ones, because I love flowers, but everything is enchanting. In your stories, the soul of Highclere speaks to us.
Have a nice day.
Emanuela Babbini
Van Dyck painted a number of theses homage paintings
Dear Lady Carnarvon:
Belated thanks for this Monday's blog and for sharing the brief art history of Still Life's. I really enjoyed looking over the details in the pictures you provided; what beauty and color; and how
stunning.
Until next time, best wishes to you.
Perpetua Crawford
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
Thanku for your wonderful insights into the beautiful paintings which surround you in your fabulous home.....normal people, like me, tend to glance at the paintings & think "yeah, flowers, fruit, & the odd dead swan" but we know nothing of the artists or the stories behind them.
I shall look at paintings very differently from now on, thank you,
Caroline x