Still Life with Artichokes and a Parrot

Italian 17th Century

National Gallery of Art

A parrot perches on a branch to the left next to some artichokes, a vase of flowers, and a dish of cherries in this horizontal still life painting. Light comes from the top left corner, and the objects are arranged across a cream-white stone ledge with stepped molding on the underside. The front left corner of the molding is near the left edge of the painting, and the ledge continues off the right side of the canvas. The parrot has a muted green body, yellow and blue head, red-streaked wings, and a hooked beak. It faces our right in profile. The source of the branch on which it perches is difficult to make out. It does not seem to be coming from the stalks of artichokes lying to our right of the bird, and the back end of the stick is lost in shadow. Seven cigar-sized pea pods lie on the ledge next to the three artichoke stalks. Ruby-red cherries shimmer in the light, and they are interspersed with a variety that is pale yellow and blush red and some unripe cherries. Two more pea pods are on this pale blue dish, which has a low pedestal foot, with the cherries. Behind the cherries and peas is a vase with sky-blue and nearly black irises, vivid red poppies, shite flowers, and a red flower with layers of small, rounded petals. The background is slate gray where the light falls across the far wall and deep in shadow beyond that.