Still Life (pt. 8)

Of this particular genre of painting there is a certain element of pathos which should be understood.  There is a touch of sadness to be found in a still life.  Here is a painting showing no action or event taking place; rather it pictures an inanimate, quiet, and often lifeless world.  There are almost never any people in the paintings.  The scene is set in a lonely room, often dark and often obscured from full view.  How far back the room goes we do not know; we don't even know where we are, really.  Dreamy, cloudy, and almost mystical, it is no wonder that Baroque still lifes generated a symbolic connection with religious paintings.  This period and genre of art could fill an entire life's work of study and research—and a very interesting study that would be—but we will stop here to move on.