Category: Still Life

The training ground for everything: composition, light, form and patience. How to set up a still life worth painting, and the technique to carry it off.

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Caravaggio's Basket of Fruit, a wicker basket of fruit and leaves against a pale ground

The History of Still Life: From Roman Frescoes to Cézanne’s Apples

June 27, 2026

A complete history of still life painting — from Egyptian tomb offerings and Roman xenia through Caravaggio, the Spanish bodegón, the Dutch Golden Age and vanitas, to Chardin, Cézanne and modern art.

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