Still Life with Travelling Trunk
Leonard Bramer
1640s
Medium
Etching in black on cream laid paper
Dimensions
13.6 × 18.6 cm (5 3/8 × 7 3/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
36840
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Leonard Bramer spent most of his professional career traveling throughout the Netherlands, France, and Italy, and he was deeply influenced by the dramatic chiaroscuro paintings of Caravaggio. Although primarily known as a painter and draftsman of history and religious scenes, he created a handful of still lifes, each with a moralizing theme. Here, the overturned wine glass, open trunk, money, and playing cards represent the transience of life. Unlike his peer Rembrandt, Bramer made very few pri...