Linard Jacques

Linard Jacques 1600-1645
 

Still Life with a Basket of Plums and Peaches with a Cut Melon

National Trust, Snowshill Manor Snowshill,

 near Broadway, Gloucestershire, England

 

This still life, with a basket of plums, figs and peaches, on a stone ledge with a cantaloupe melon, is signed and dated 1635.

Linard was one of the prime exponents of French still-life paintings and his works show the influence of both Italian and Netherlandish prototypes. This painting, however, is distinctly French in its economy and elegance of composition. After Linard's death and the foundation of the Academie Royale (of Painting and Sculpture) in 1648, still-life painting suffered a demise in France as its unpretentious subject matter was considered inferior to historical and mythological themes.
The painting was bought by Charles Paget Wade and sits happily in Snowshill Manor with the vast collection of craftmanship and curios he acquired.