Middle Ages
Still-lifes seem to vanish from antique art as the Roman Empire got closer to its fall. Art in general declines as the prosperity of the Roman empire gets eaten up by wars and inner strife, resulting in a division of the empire, and its fall to the invading Germanic tribes, around mid 400s AD, or CE if you prefer.
Objects turn up again as ornamentations and book illuminations during the Middle Ages, but not as proper still-lifes, as we know and define them. Objects were commonly included in portraits (showing birth, status, ruler) and depictions of saints (signing who it was).
St Bridget of Sweden (14th century), one of Europe’s patron saints, is often depicted as carrying a model of the church she caused to be built, or as writing her revelations in a book, as seen in this book illumination:
Most of the paintings from Medieval times that are preserved into our times have religious motifs. The saints and their attributes were codified, and if you know the code, you can see at a glance who is depicted in a painting.
Up and into the 1600s
Next illustration of the principle is of a later date, the 1600s, which strictly isn’t medieval, but as Sweden were a bit behind in adapting what was the latest fashion on the continent, and as we’re moving forward in times in this Breeze, let’s make a bridge to the 17th century by taking a look at a more developed portrait utilizing still-life as a “name-tag”.
To show that the below painting isn’t just any man in a tin suit, we have a still-life of objects to the left: A king’s crown and the “apple of the realm” a globus cruciger symbolizing dominion over the world. (A symbol used by the Roman emperors, and the idea was appropriated by the Swedes.) The objects rest on a mantle of ermine. Ah, clearly a King! Then there is a knight’s helmet, and some other objects indicating war, and we can deduct that this is a warrior king. The Swedish king Karl X (Charles X, 1622-1660) was leading the armies in the 30 year war as a general, before being elevated to kingship in 1654 by his abdicating cousin, the reigning Queen Christina
And a detail:
But proper still-lifes were just starting to be revived, and we'll look into that in part 4.
To be continued.
