Still Life with Fruit

Jacob van Walscapelle

National Gallery of Art

A half-peeled pomegranate, a few nuts, a bunch of purple grapes, and a glass of pale yellow wine sit on the corner of a stone ledge against a dark background in this vertical still life painting. The corner of the chipped gray ledge is close to and lines up with the lower left corner of the painting. Two hazelnuts sit near the front of the ledge, and a twig with three more nuts in papery husks are attached to a twig. Behind that, the flaring cup of the wineglass is made up of flat panels, which are inwardly scalloped along the upper edge, like an upside-down badminton shuttlecock. The stem is made of intertwining ropes of clear and black glass. At the lower center of the composition, the glistening, scarlet-red seeds of the pomegranate contrast with the rust-orange rind. Another twig of hazelnuts is between the pomegranate and the bunch of frosty purple grapes. The vine and a broad, dark green leaf arches over the grapes and pomegranate. The objects are brightly lit from our left against a charcoal-gray background. Molding under the ledge can be made out in the shadows across the bottom edge of the painting. Closer inspection reveals tiny water droplets on the stone ledge and the pomegranate. The artist signed and dated the painting in cursive text on the front face of the ledge, near the lower right corner: “J: Walscappel 1675.”