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Artist: Peter Binoit

Title: Still Life with Letter Pastries

Date: 1615

Period/Culture/Context: This was painted in the 17th century, where still life paintings were very popular works of art. Binoit was a still-life painter during the Baroque era (period of artistic style that included motion). He was a German painter that worked on Frankfut am Main and Cologne; meaning he was a famous painter.

Subject/Iconography: In the painting, a meal is shown with loaves of bread, olives, a type of meat, and what looks like white wine. The still life is normal and insignificant based on the time period. Most artists would set up food or a person, and paint what they see, giving as most detail as possible. When someone requested a still portrait, that usually meant they were of a higher status or were more wealthy than others. A still life with just food as the subject, was usually done to then sell to numerous people. The paintings weren't as personal as the ones with people as the subject of the painting. 

Style/Technique: The does a good job of painting what the objects in the painting actually look like. He shades well, and focuses on realism, making the painting even more realistic. The colors on the left are a bit darker than the ones on the right. This could show that the light that is on the food subject is coming from the right of the frame, drawing your focus to the letters and the loaf of bread in the right section of the painting. There is also a fly on the bread in the middle of the painting. This draws the viewer's eye into the painting, without looking deeply. In the painting, there is also an obvious background, middle, and foreground. This is a typical way to paint anything, but especially a still life. The composition of the painting seems scattered, but everything has its own place. No object in a still life picture is placed randomly, because the artist consciously places everything. Finally, since this is a digital version of the picture, texture is hard to determine. However, if I were to guess what it would appear like in person, I would have to say that it is a rough painting with good quality paint (that helps when selling the painting). All of these techniques are to in turn sell the painting for money or other treasures during the time period. 

Significance/Function/Purpose: At first glance, the picture doesn't show much value other than a look into typical still life paintings, but when analyzed deeper, value is discovered. The pastries on the right had significance in the 1600s. Bakers (mostly girls) would bake them and spell out words and even phrases to practice learning how to read and write. This was important to them during this time period because education wasn't required, but most still wanted to be educated. The food itself pictured in the painting have religious value. Wine and bread are significant in the Bible because it symbolizes Jesus' body and blood. During a religious communion, one would drink wine and eat bread to become closer to Jesus and basically present their faith through the eating and drinking. A communal feast usually has wine in a chalice (like the one pictured), with loafs of bread and either olives or grapes (both are pictured). This most likely was done so that the consumer that bought the painting could hang and appreciate it in the dining room or kitchen area. The artist also had this in mind when painting the picture (all for a profit). The title of the work is Still Life with Letter Pastries; meaning that all still lifes include the rest of the painting (other than the letter pastries). The wine and bread mentioned before is very significant and almost always in the still life paintings (almost like a necessity). Still lifes are still admired today, and even taught in school, so there is still an importance to them. Still lifes, however, might have changed through out the decades and centuries to become less religious, and more focused on the talent itself.