Willem Claesz. Heda lived and worked in Haarlem. He was a still-life painter and one of the originators of the so-called tonal, or monochrome, Dutch still life.
Willem Claesz. Heda
1594 - 1680
Paintings by Willem Claesz. Heda
![Still Life with a Lobster](/media/23sbdxrw/n-5787-00-000020-hd.jpg?width=576&height=576&v=1d78dedf97c7dd0&bgcolor=fff)
Although apparently casually displayed, the objects in this still life would immediately have suggested wealth and extravagance to a seventeenth-century viewer. The cloths have a satin-like sheen, and the objects on them are all expensive luxuries. They‘re carefully chosen, not just because they...
![Still Life: Pewter and Silver Vessels and a Crab](/media/33405/n-1469-00-000016-hd.jpg?cc=0.16096875,0,0.12184375000000006,0&width=576&height=576&v=1d6543d3f785fc0&bgcolor=fff)
Willem Claesz. Heda uses muted colours to show us the ingredients of a meal – with a focus on quality, not quantity. Everything on the table is expensive: this is the meal of a rich man. The white table cloth is made of damask, a luxurious silk fabric. Lemons were brought in from the Mediterranea...