Still Life with Books, Sheet Music, Violin, Celestial Globe and an Owl
1645 - 1650
Medium
panel
Dimensions
h 102cm × w 85.3cm
Classification
painting, wall decoration
Museum
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
About this artwork
Deel van negendelige kamerbeschildering voor het huis Beekhoven, later het Hoogerhuis genoemd, bij Randenbroek bij Amersfoort, het buitenhuis van Jacob van Campen.
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the Rijksmuseum's collection, *Still Life with Books, Music, Violin, Celestial and an Owl* (c. 1645–1650) by Jacob vanen captures a harmonious gathering of scholarly treasures on a wooden panel measuring 102 × 85.3 cm. This evocative still life brims with symbols of intellect and culture: leather-bound books for knowledge, sheet music and violin for musical arts, a celestial globe evoking astronomy, and a wise owl perched as guardian of wisdom. Van Camp, a leading Dutch Golden Age figure renowned for his classicist architecture like Amsterdam's Mauritshuis, here showcases his painte...
About the Artist
Jacob van Campen
On the death of his parents, Jacob received a considerable inheritance and the title of Lord of Randenbroek. He did not have the benefit of a formal architectural training, but produced several important works, including the Mauritshuis in The Hague and the Amsterdam Town Hall, in which he introduced an Italian classical formal idiom to the Northern Netherlands. Dutch architect and painter. Commen...