Still Life with Ewer, Vessels, and Pomegranate

Luxury objects — an ornate Mannerist ewer, a steeple cup, elegant glass vessels — are carefully arranged on a table, with an open pomegranate and a bowl of fruit resting on white drapery. To the right a lemon and three olives are reflected in a silver plate that rests precariously on the table’s edge; behind them a platter holds a tankard whose polished surface mirrors the adjacent wineglass. Willem Kalf delighted in the play and contrast of transparent and reflective surfaces — finely wrought metal, smooth glass, woven linen, dry crumbly bread, the wet shiny inside of the pomegranate. The torn bread, half-empty glass, sliced fruit and overturned glass allude to human presence, as if lavish delicacies were abruptly left on the table. The painting is held in the J. Paul Getty Museum.