Skip to main content

Jan Roos, 'Still Life of Fruit and Vegetables with Two Monkeys', about 1620

About the work

Overview

A monkey pauses while picking peaches from a pile of fruit to snarl viciously at another monkey gazing longingly at the hoard. The setting is ambiguous: the rich display of corn, grapes, apples, pears, quinces and peaches is positioned on a stone ledge and overflows onto a smooth floor, where two suggestively shaped gourds are prominently positioned. Monkeys were sometimes kept as exotic pets, so this scene might depict the discovery of fruit in store ahead of a stately banquet.

The composition is derived from the work of the Flemish hunt, animal and still-life painter Frans Snijders, to whom this picture was once attributed, but the lesser quality of its execution points to the work of Snijders' pupil Jan Roos. It was probably painted in Genoa where, having found high demand for his work, Roos settled permanently from 1616.

Key facts

Details

Full title
Still Life of Fruit and Vegetables with Two Monkeys
Artist
Jan Roos
Artist dates
1591 - 1638
Date made
about 1620
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
102.9 × 135.5 cm
Acquisition credit
Presented by Miss Emily Jane Wood at the wish of her uncle, Decimus Burton, 1888
Inventory number
NG1252
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images