03 — ARTWORK
Still-Life
- MEDIUM
- Oil on canvas, 42 x 35 cm
- TYPE
- Still-Life
PALETTE
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THIS REPRODUCTION
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CURRENT LOCATION · Private Collection
- FILE
- 955 × 1300 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
The painting, which depicts a still-life with fruit and flowers, together with oysters, mussels, a glass of wine and a decanter, is signed lower left: J Van Os Fecit.
Van Os's asymmetrically composed pyramidal still lifes are often set on a marbleloosely applied to any hard limestone that can be sawn into thin slabs and will take a good polish so that it is suitable for decorative work; more strictly, it refers to metamorphosed limestones whose structure has been recrystallized by heat or pressure. Marbles are widely disseminated and occur in a great variety of colours and patterns, but certain types have been particularly prized by sculptors. The most famous of Greek white marbles in the ancient world was the close-grained Pentelic, which was quarried at Mount Pentelicon in Attica. The Elgin Marbles are carved in Pentelic. Widely used also were the somewhat coarser-grained translucent white marbles from the Aegean islands of Paros and Naxos. Parian marble was used for the celebrated Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. The pure white Carrara marble, quarried at Massa, Carrara, and Pietra Santa in Tuscany from the 3rd century BC, is the most famous of all sculptors' stones. It was used for the Apollo Belvedere, and was much favoured in the Renaissance, particularly by Michelangelo, who often visited the quarries to select material for his work. Neoclassical sculptors also favoured Carrara marble because of its ability to take a smooth, sleek surface, but it can look rather 'dead' compared with some of the finest Greek marbles. or stone ledge against a pale green landscape background, and as such echo the style of Jan van Huysum. The present picture is a fine example of his work.
OTHER WORKS BY JAN VAN OS
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-r6b13ac777f3fda,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {Still-Life by OS, Jan van},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-14},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/os-jan-van-r11c98a81f58b06/still-life-r6b13ac777f3fda},
urldate = {2026-09-14},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-14. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.