Still Life with Meat, Fish, Vegetables, and Fruit
Jacob van Hulsdonck·c. 1615–20
Historical Context
Jacob van Hulsdonck's Still Life with Meat, Fish, Vegetables, and Fruit from around 1615-20 is a lavish kitchen piece that combines multiple food categories in a single abundant display. Hulsdonck was among the earliest Antwerp painters to specialize exclusively in still life, helping establish the genre as an independent category of painting. The remarkable variety of provisions reflects both Antwerp's position as a major trading center and the Flemish tradition of market and kitchen scenes.
Technical Analysis
The oil-on-panel technique, with the reverse prepared with gesso, demonstrates Hulsdonck's meticulous attention to rendering diverse textures—the sheen of fish scales, the rough skin of vegetables, the bloom on fruit. The strong, even lighting and dark background isolate each object with clarity.
Provenance
Johann Melchior Edler von Birkenstock [1738–1809], Vienna; (Artaria, Vienna, Johan Melchior Edler von Birkenstock sale, March 1811, lot 387 [not sold]); Antonia (Anthonie) Brentano (née von Birkenstock) [1780–1869], Frankfurt; Kohlbacher, Frankfurt, Antonia von Brentano sale, April 4–6, 1870, lot 29 (purchased by seller's grandson, Emil Georg von Brentano); Emil Georg von Brentano [1845–1890], Frankfurt; Presumably by descent to Franz Anton Johann von Brentano (1882–1940), Frankfurt; Franz Anton Johann von Brentano and Marga Luise von Brentano [née von Heister; d. 1964]; By descent to Bettina Birstein [née von Brentano; d. 1978]; By descent to Hiltrud Michaeli (née Birstein), Saarbrücken; (Sotheby's, London, December 5, 2012, lot 10 [as “The Property of a Lady”]); (Johnny van Haeften, London)
