Still-Life with Cherries and Strawberries in China Bowls
Published November 20, 2020
Still-Life with Cherries and Strawberries in China Bowls
1608 Oil on copper, 50 x 66 cm Staatliche Museen, Berlin
This painting of the still-life genre done by Osias Beert the Elder shows two porcelain bowls filled with strawberries and cherries. Modern viewers will not know it immediately but they are looking at more than a Baroque time capsule or an arrangement of cutlery, charming vessels, and fruit on a table. Paintings of this kind and of this time were known for their spiritual symbolism and allegory.
Osias Beert shows the forces of good and evil fighting for man's soul in the form of the dragonfly and the butterfly. Among the symbols of that time, the butterfly was known to pertain to salvation and resurrection, while the dragonfly was considered like its cousin, the fly, a creature of the devil. Strawberries and cherries, considered to be fruits of Paradise, represented men’s souls. The owner of this picture may have marveled at the skill of the painter or swelled with pride at a richly painted bounty of fruit that complements his own storehouse. But by knowing the meaning of this piece, they will have also pondered on the fate of his own soul.
