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
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...
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...