Jan Van Os, Still Life With Grapes, Fruit And Flowers

Jan van Os (1774 - 1808) was a Dutch painter taught by Aret Schouman, decorative painter, later joining the painter’s confraternity in 1733. Jan van Os is chiefly known for his artistic still life illustrations of fruits and flowers, echoing the style of Jan van Huysum, he also painted landscapes and seascapes. Following his signature style he designed the painting Jan van Os, Still Life with Grapes, Fruit and Flowers, c. 1770 – 1780. Artistic trends of the Baroque period in Northern Europe are conveyed by the subject-matter, realism and formal elements such as color, lines, and

The painting , as clearly discernible , is a Dutch still life employing the popular medium oil on wood featuring a floral arrangement in a vase on a table surrounded by fruits and a background consisting of a nature scenery appearing to be in a forest. Notability the vase has four figures of engraved which three are easily visible while the fourth is obscured at the bottom by a shadow of an unseen object. The figures appear to be babies with adult characteristics standing on two legs with one on the left seemingly shielding the other from the baby one on the right holding something over its head, usually when babies are depicted in artworks with such advanced mannerisms they are either baby Jesus or Cupid in which I believe the later would have

Giving rise to the belief that this painting is vanitas still life painting to which the flowers and fruits themselves could hold greater importance outside of beauty. In accordance to this subject-matter the flowers and fruits would act as a reminder of the fleeting nature of human existence and life's earthly pleasures. Suggesting the subject of this painting is life momentary beauty that shifts over