Consider the Mediterranean monk seal. The mammal has been prized on the Italian peninsula since ancient times, hunted for its meat, fur, oil, and medicinal properties—so much so that by the 16th ...

In the 17th century, Holland was in bloom. Following a bout of “tulipmania” in the 1630s, it became fashionable to visit the Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam’s botanical garden, to catch a glimpse of a ...

Those unfamiliar with art history may wonder, what makes a painting still life? Well, a still-life painting may feature a variety of items arranged in a specific (or disorganized) way. Sure, inanimate ...

If still-life painting is the art of arresting decay, then it makes a lot of sense that Rachel Ruysch grew up to become one of the greatest still-life painters in the history of art. In the 17th ...

What does it mean to paint a bowl of fruit in 2026? For Kerry Bickford, associate curator at the Brandywine Museum of Art, the question is less quaint than it sounds. It’s one she has given a lot of ...

She was the queen of the 17th-century still life—and her patrons shelled out lavish sums to own her resplendent flowers. Rachel Ruysch, born in the Hague in 1664, rose to fame for her exquisitely ...

Judith Linhares, "Freya’s Flowers" (2024), oil on linen (all image courtesy Judith Linhares and P·P·O·W, New York, © Judith Linhares. Photos Ian Edquist) The ...