Still-Life

In this painting Heda took care to give the pewter jug a duller gloss than the silver vessels, and to make the lemon peel a brighter yellow than the soft ochre pie. This bring the still-life close to contemporary tonal landscape. There is another aspect (apart from the attempts to reduce the colours to a common denominator) and that is the curiously indeterminate space. The objects are put on a table, but the table is placed against a plain background which is strangely transparent with dull light. The still-life almost seems to float, like the mirage of trees on the still, reflective water in the river landscapes of Salomon van Ruysdael. Since the back-edge of the table is obscured from view, making a measurement of space is almost impossible.

An occasional symbol may be slipped in the still-life. Here the peeled lemon symbolizes Deceptive Appearance: beautiful to look at, a lemon yet tastes sour.