Still Life with Sweets, by Juan van der Hamen y Léon, 1622
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Still Life with Sweets

Juan van der Hamen y Léon (Spanish, 1596–1631)

1622

Medium
oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
Framed: 83 x 122 x 7.5 cm (32 11/16 x 48 1/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 58 x 97 cm (22 13/16 x 38 3/16 in.)
Culture
Spain
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art, European Painting and Sculpture
Credit line
John L. Severance Fund
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed

View at the Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

Placed on a simple stone ledge, this bold arrangement includes a wooden box, a dark glass bottle, some walnuts, an elaborate Venetian glass, and several sweets called turrones. These delicacies are a mixture of pine nuts, honey, almonds, and hazelnuts. The picture may not represent an actual meal or snack. Rather, the artist played with contrasts and harmonies of shapes, textures, and colors. During his short career van der Hamen, whose father was from the Netherlands, worked at the Spanish royal court and created biblical pictures, history paintings, allegories, and landscapes. He is best known for his portraits and still lifes.