Still Life of Lemons and Olives Pewter Plates a Roemer and a Facon De Venise Wine Glass on a Ledge 

Pieter Claesz painted this still life of lemons, olives and glassware with oil on wood, likely in the 1640s in the city of Haarlem, in the Dutch Republic. At this time, the Dutch Republic was one of the world’s great trading powers. These global trade networks created a wealthy merchant class and allowed the Dutch to import a variety of goods from around the world. But such trade also created new anxieties. One of the great subjects of Dutch painting is luxury. Here, then, we have an array of expensive imported items carefully arranged in an intimate domestic space: bright lemons, Venetian glassware, and pewter plates. The question raised by this image is: are these commodities cause for celebration or moral concern? To understand the culture in which Claesz was working, we need to consider the specific history of the Dutch Republic, the economy of global trade, and the religious values of the time.