Bodegón

The term ''bodega'' in Spanish can mean "pantry", "tavern", or "wine cellar". The derivative term ''bodegón'' is an augmentative that refers to a large ''bodega'', usually in a derogatory fashion. In Spanish art, a ''bodegón'' is a still life painting depicting pantry items, such as victuals, game, and drink, often arranged on a simple stone slab, and also a painting with one or more figures, but with significant still life elements, typically set in a kitchen or tavern. It also refers to low-life or everyday objects, which can be painted with flowers, fruits, or other objects to display the painter's mastery.Johnson, Paul. ''Art: A New History'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003, p. 353.

History

Beginning in the Baroque period, such paintings became popular in Spain in the second quarter of the 17th century. The tradition of still life painting appears to have started and was far more popular in the contemporary Flemish and Dutch artists (Belgium and Netherlands today), than in southern Europe. Northern still lifes had many subgenres; the ''breakfast piece'' was augmented by the ''trompe-l'œil'', the ''flower bouquet'', and the ''vanitas''. In Spain there were much fewer patrons for this sort of thing, but a type of ''breakfast piece'' did become popular, featuring a few objects of food and tableware laid on a table. Though now considered a Spanish invention, the classic ''trompe-l'œil'' presentation of fruit on a stone slab was common in ancient Rome.

Spanish Baroque still life painting were often austere; they differed from the Flemish Baroque still lifes, which often contain both rich banquets surrounded by ornate and luxurious items with fabric or glass. In bodegones, the game is often plain dead animals still waiting to be skinned. The fruits and vegetables are uncooked. The backgrounds are bleak or plain wood geometric blocks, often creating a surrealist air. Both Netherlandish and Spanish still lifes often had a moral ''vanitas'' element. Their austerity, akin to the bleakness of some of the Spanish plateaus, never copies the sensual pleasures, plenitude, and luxury of many Northern European still life paintings.

The Velázquez paintings '' The Waterseller of Seville'', '' Old Woman Frying Eggs'', and '' The lunch'' are often described as ''bodegones''As does this dictionary of art terms: LCCN 83-51331 due to the artist's depiction of jars and foodstuff. Some people reject this use of the term, calling them instead a mixture of genre painting in Bamboccianti style and still life.

Motifs

File:Juan Sánchez Cotán - Still Life with Fruits and Vegetables, c. 1600 HQ.jpg, Vegetables and fruits, some suspended by thread.
''Still Life with Fruits and Vegetables'' by Juan Sánchez Cotán; , 69 × 96 cm, private collection.
File:Diego Velazquez - An Old Woman Cooking Eggs - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Bodegón'' with elements of genre paintings — kitchen and cooking.
'' An Old Woman Cooking Eggs'' by Diego Velázquez; 1618, 101 × 120 cm, Scottish National Gallery.
File:Alejandro de Loarte - Kitchen Still Life, c. 1626.jpg, Carved meat, eggs, and utensils.
''Kitchen Still Life'' by Alejandro de Loarte; , 82 × 108 cm, private collection.
File:Juan van der Hamen - Still Life with Sweets and Pottery, 1627.jpg, Sweets, pottery, glassware, and wooden containers.
''Still Life with Sweets and Pottery'' by Juan van der Hamen; 1627, 85 × 113 cm, National Gallery.
File:Agnus Dei, por Francisco de Zurbarán.jpg, ''Bodegón'' with a religious theme — Lamb of God.
''Agnus Dei'' by Francisco de Zurbarán; 1635–40, 37 × 62 cm, Prado Museum.
File:Antonio Ponce - Flowers in a Vase and Fruit in a Bowl on a Ledge, 1640-60.jpg, Flower vase and fruit bowl.
''Still Life with Flowers in a Vase and a Fruit Bowl on a Ledge'' by Antonio Ponce; 1640–60, 62 × 100 cm, private collection.
File:Antonio de Pereda y Salgado - Still-Life with an Ebony Chest - WGA17174.jpg, Furniture, delftware, maiolica, and ceramics.
''Still Life with an Ebony Chest'' by Antonio de Pereda; , 80 × 94 cm, Hermitage Museum.
File:Bodegón - Tomás Yepes, 1668.jpg, Baked food, metallic kitchenware, and fruits on branches.
''Still Life'' by Tomás Yepes; 1668, 102 × 157 cm, Prado Museum.
File:Meléndez, Luis Egidio - Still Life with Fruit and Cheese.jpg, Cheese, barrel, glass bottle, fruits in decorative plate, storage jars and boxes.
''Still Life with Fruit and Cheese'' by Luis Egidio Meléndez; 1771, 41 × 62 cm, Prado Museum.
File:Francisco de Goya - Still Life with Golden Bream - 94.245 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg , Fish and allegorical allusions — to '' The Disasters of War''.
''Still Life with Golden Bream'' by Francisco Goya; 1808, 45 × 63 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
File:José María Corchón - Bodegón de cocina con caza y hortalizas, 1850-55.jpg, Pantry shelf, pitchers, and hunted game — various birds and hares.
''Kitchen Still Life with Game and Vegetables'' by José María Corchón; 1850–55, 140 × 187 cm, Prado Museum.
File:Julia Alcayde y Montoya - Fruits, 1911.jpg, Grapes and landscape painting.
''Fruits'' by Julia Alcayde y Montoya; 1926, 72 × 106 cm, Prado Museum.

References

Bibliography

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* Nochlin, Linda' The Politics of Vision : Essays on Nineteenth-Century Art and Society. New York: Harper & Row, (1989). Page 30.
* JC Robinson: ''The Bodegones and Early Works of Velázquez'', The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs,1906, page 172.

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bodegon
Visual arts genres
Spanish art
Spanish Baroque