STILL LIFE WITH PEWTER JUG, WINE GLASSES AND PASTE Oil on wood. 47.5 x 64 cm. Old painted inventory number "L 55" verso, as well as more recent stencil number. The objects, which also include a peeled lemon, white bread, walnut, knife and a spoon, deliberately correspond in their cool colors with the grey wall background, which appears lighter towards the left. A branch of grapevine with grape leaves catches behind the objects, tying them together and mediating the color of the wine glasses, one of which has already been emptied and placed over the spout of the pewter jug. The lid of the sheath of the knife lying on the white cloth hangs down towards the lower edge of the picture and conveys the effect of a spatial continuation. The metallic grey tone of the pewter objects gives the picture its dominant color characteristic. There is a dark metallic sheen on the beaked teapot and the plates. The main object here is the inviting pastry so popular in the Baroque period. This restrained, elegant use of color, the so-called "monochrome banketjes", is a characteristic feature of Kraen's still lifes. He is first documented in Haarlem in 1637, mentioned a year later as a pupil of Jacob de Wet I, whose sister he later married. In 1642 he was a member of the painters' guild in Haarlem. Only a few paintings with a date have made it possible to attribute him to other paintings, for example in Douwes, Amsterdam 1977, with the date 1642. Initially, a number of his works were attributed to his fellow painter Pieter Claesz or Willem Claesz Heda, as there are indeed stylistic similarities. The painting was previously wrongly attributed to Franchoy's Elout. However, Dr. Martina Brunner-Bulst and Dr. Sam Segal have suggested Kraen as the author. A.R. Literature: Cf. Nicolaas Rudolph Alexander Vroom, A modest message as intimated by the painters of the "Monochrome Banketje", Schiedam 1980. Cf. Poul Gammelbo, Dutch Still Life Paintings from the 16th to 18th Centuries in Danish Collections, Copenhagen 1960 (14023221) (11) Adriaen Jansz Kraen, 1619 Haarlem - 1679 ibid, attributed STILL LIFE WITH PEWTER JUG, WINE GLASSES, AND PATE Oil on panel. 47.5 x 64 cm. Old painted inventory no. "L 55" on the reverse and stencilled number of a more recent date. Literature: cf. Nicolaas Rudolph Alexander Vroom, A modest message as intimated by the painters of the "Monochrome Banketje", Schiedam 1980. cf. Poul Gammelbo, Dutch Still Life Paintings from the 16th to 18th Centuries in Danish Collections, Copenhagen 1960.