National Gallery Still Life Assignemnt - Essay Example

Still life Assignment Still life refers to a work of art, usually a painting or drawing of a group of objects that do not move. It refers to the representation of inanimate things. Historically, the objects often tended to be fruit, flowers, dead animals, or any other kind of food. In French, still life gets referred to as ‘nature morte’ implying ‘dead nature’. The use of objects in still life painting was meant to be symbolic in that the objects portrayed a deeper meaning and understanding besides its pretty face value.

Still life painting enables the artist to convey extra messages to the viewers. Still life painting began in the 16th century and became a serious art form in the 17th century when artists began to realistically dramatize their works (Charles 49). Most still life painting of the early painters got used to convey messages about the futility of worldly life and material decay. Early painters of still life centralized around moral and religious themes when painting their work. The church represented a strong influence upon early still life painters.

An analysis of Michelangelo Merissi Da Carravaggio ‘supper at Emmaus’ is of great use in understanding still life painting. ‘Supper at Emmaus’ is an example of a still life painting carried out in 1601 by Caravaggio (Charles 68). In the painting, the artist includes arrangement of fruit, wine, bread, and cooked fowl. The table in the painting gets used to lay out the still-life meal. A closer look at the fruit basket in the painting will reveal to the viewer of its precarious position at the table’s edge.

The painting depicts a story from the bible where Jesus Christ is said to have appeared incognito to two of his disciples who failed to recognize him after his resurrection. Later, Christ appeared to the disciples at a supper meal in Emmaus where he blessed the meal and shared it to them. When the disciples began to recognize him, he disappeared. Caravaggio’s painting depicts the moment when Christ blesses the bread, and in turn revealing his true identity to the two disciples. Christ is shown beardless in the painting.

The artist provides a further emphasis on the still life meal on the table. The gestures and expressions of the disciples reveal their intense emotion at recognizing Christ. The depiction of a beardless Christ at the table may be confusing to the viewer at first instance of viewing. The viewer might think that Christ is just any other person or disciple at the table. This depiction of Christ makes the viewer to feel a participant in the table just like the disciples who are surprised of Christ’s appearance.

The use of trompe l’oeil or illusion in still life is to assist the painter to make his or her work appear as real as possible (Charles 124). This technique requires skillful incorporation of detail such as size, color, and light to ensure that a two dimensional piece appears three dimensional. This technique draws the viewer closer to the painting and makes him or her believe that the depiction is a real event taking place.Works CitedCharles, Victoria. Still Life. New York: Parkstone International, 2011.