A Closer Look:
Jacob Marrel
Still life with Shells
Take a deep dive into an exceptional painting from our The Classics, Paris sale on 19 April—Still life with Shells by German artist Jacob Marrel (1614-1681).
Marrel was an apprentice to the Frankfurt-based still life painter Georg Flegel until the early 1630s, when he moved to Utrecht and trained under celebrated Dutch still life painter Jan Davidsz. de Heem, best known for his paintings of flowers and fruit. In Utrecht, Marrel was also influenced by other contemporary artists like the Bosschaert family and Roelandt Savery. After moving back to Frankfurt in 1650, Marrel continued to visit Utrecht throughout his life, forming an important link between these two early centres of still life painting.
Still life paintings came into their own with the Dutch and Flemish painters of the 17th century. This new “genre” of paintings flourished and divided into many different sub-genres including fruit and vegetable studies, banketje (banquet still-lifes) and vanitas paintings. The objects in a still-life painting of this period, such as fruits, vegetables, or luxury foods often contain hidden allegories. They relate to the transience of earthly goods and the inevitability of the death, or, by extension, serve as symbols of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ.
Marrel's basket, shells and fruit are clearly inspired by a still life by Dutch painter Balthasar van der Ast, from around 1635—now in Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada—which may have been painted in Utrecht before the artist left for Delft.
Marrel has taken the greatest care to depict the surface and texture of all the fruits, delighting particularly in the rendition of the bruises and other blemishes of the less ripe fruit.
On the upper-left of the composition is a dragonfly. A classic addition based on medieval bestiaries, it is loaded with symbolic meaning. The dragonfly was considered a subspecies of the fly and its image had a negative meaning, as it was thought to embody the devil.
On the lower-centre is a lizard, another classic addition based on medieval bestiaries. The lizard, being a small amphibious creature, was thought to be not only impervious to fire but also to have the power to extinguish flames.
With its proximity to the cherries—symbol of the Passion and the souls of men—the lizard could be seen to be attempting to corrupt them.
Although commonplace today, shells like these were great rarities in the 17th century and extremely sought after. Like tulips, exotic seashells became the subject of intense commercial speculation. Arriving in the Dutch Republic on trading ships from the Dutch East and West Indies, they were enthusiastically collected in 17th-century Netherlands. The victims of this indulgence were mocked as ‘shelpenzotten’ or ‘shell fools’. Consequently shells, like flowers, came to be seen as emblems of vanitas.
This masterpiece is coming under the hammer on 19 April. Browse the sale and register to bid now or contact theclassics@bonhams.com for more information.
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