''Pronkstilleven'' ( Dutch for 'ostentatious', 'ornate' or 'sumptuous' still life) is a style of ornate

still life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...

painting, characterised by large and complex compositions and an elaborate palette. Pronkstillevens typically depict a wide variety of objects, fruits, flowers and inanimate animals, often accompanied by live human and animal figures. The genre was developed in the 1640s in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

from where it spread quickly to the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

.''Pronkstilleven''
in: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms

Development

Flemish artists such as Frans Snyders and Adriaen van Utrecht started to paint still lifes that emphasized abundance by depicting a diversity of objects, fruits, flowers and dead game, often together with living people and animals. The style was soon adopted by artists from the Dutch Republic. A leading Dutch representative was Jan Davidsz. de Heem, who spent a long period of his active career in Antwerp and was one of the founders of the style in the Dutch Republic.Jan Davidsz. de Heem
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History Other leading representatives in Flanders and the Dutch Republic were Nicolaes van Verendael, Alexander Coosemans, Carstian Luyckx, Jasper Geeraards, Peter Willebeeck, Abraham van Beyeren and Willem Kalf.

Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts - Silverware in an Open Cabinet

Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts developed the style further by incorporating pronkstillevens in the

trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

compositions for which he was known. An example is his '' Silverware in an Open Cabinet'' at the Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent.Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts, ''Pronkstilleven in an open cabinet''
at barokinvlaanderen

Meaning

Pronkstillevens are usually interpreted as a form of

vanitas ''Vanitas'' is a genre of symbolizing the temporality, transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, and thus the vanity of ambition and all worldly desires. The paintings involved still life imagery of transitory i ...

painting that conveys a moral lesson. The various objects in the compositions serve as symbols that can be read as an admonition or a life lesson. The objects usually refer to the transience and emptiness of wealth and possessions and the ultimate extinction and emptiness of earthly life. For instance, roses are often used as a vanitas motif, as they recall that all life and earthly beauty are fleeting. Hourglasses are an admonition that life is fleeting and will end. Empty containers such as glasses or vases point to the emptiness of earthly wealth and aspirations. The paintings remind the viewer of the need to practice moderation and temperance.Laurens J. Bol, ''Abraham van Beyeren - Pronk-stilleven''
at okv

References

{{reflist Flemish art Dutch painting Baroque painting Visual arts genres Still life painters Art of the Dutch Golden Age