Abraham Mignon’s Still Life interplays between the viewer’s eye and palate. Several aspects of the painting helps us retrace its belonging to the Baroque style, like the use of
chiaroscuro as a technique to draw attention on certain zones while leaving others in
darkness. Additionally, the choice of products depicted in his still life refers to different
values and thoughts, specific to the Baroque style. The half consumed wine, and finished
pipe, for instance, allude to the vanity of human pleasures. The grapes, food of the lovers, as
well as the oysters, symbol of femininity and erotism, evoke a form of sensuality and delight,
corrupters of the human virtue. On the other hand, the bread, sign of christian charity, and the
nuts, symbol of trinity, make a reference to the catholic religion. Lastly, the peeled lemon
evokes the proceeding of terrestrial life, throughout which the individual frees its spirit from
its material envelope, to reach the flesh of the spiritual essence. The products depicted in the
painting are therefore carefully chosen, in order to make its viewer reflects on human vanity
and the precariousness of human life, contrasted with the eternality of human thought.
Indeed, the vitality of the fruits, placed in equilibrium on the table, contrasts with the ashes of
the finished pipe. The half consumed products imply a human presence yet not visible in the
still life. This painting therefore depicts an interrupted meal, leaving the viewer the freedom
of guessing the why and wherefore of such scene...
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