A Historical Overview of Dutch and French Still Life Painting: A Guide for the Classroom.

This articles offers a brief overview of the meaning and development of traditional Flemish and French still life painting. It traces the origin of still life painting from the Middle Ages with its religious themes through the 16th century. A classification of Flemish still life painting based on subject, organization of objects and technique is presented together with the symbolism. The meaning of these symbolism are also discussed. French still life paintings of the 18th to the 19th century dealt more with the study of the object rather than the symbolism.