This masterful still life by Pieter de Ring is a celebration of color, texture, and light. A remarkable sense of balance permeates this scene, which is overflowing with opulent vessels, rich fabrics, shellfish, fruits and greenery, all rendered with a brilliant palette and in painstaking detail. Pieter de Ring frequently signed his works with a single gold ring, an example of which is nestled on the table near the center of the right edge. Interestingly, the painting is further signed Petrus de Ring and dated 1656 upon the stone cartouche at upper left, doubly emphasizing his artistic authorship.
Very little is known about the life of the Dutch artist Pieter de Ring. Born around 1615-1620 in either Leiden or Ypres, he may have originally trained as a mason, but he cofounded the Leiden artist's guild in 1648. If he is indeed the artist whom Arnold Houbraken reported as training with Jan Davidsz. de Heem, then De Ring would have undertaken a trip to Antwerp, for which there is no evidence. De Heem’s works, however, undoubtedly influenced De Ring, who was active as a still life painted from about 1645 until his death in 1660.
A strong light source shining from the upper left illuminates not only the vibrant colors of the array of objects, but also their varied textures: the two rose's delicate pink petals; the blue and white Wan-li porcelain bowl's smooth surface; the silver tazza's shimmering luster; the bread roll's crisp edges; the colorful fruit's ripeness; and the lush foliage's variegated edges. Several of the painting's elements, including the glass roemer and the blue and white jug and bowl, also feature in the artist’s marvelous Still Life with a Parrot in the Wallace collects ion, London.1 Other comparable examples by De Ring include a painting also dated 1656 in the Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden,2 and one in the Staatliches Museum, Schwerin.3
1. Inv. no. P107, oil on canvas, 128 by 139.5 cm.
2. Inv. no. S 373, oil on canvas, 97.5 by 77 cm.
3. Inv. no. G 404, oil on canvas marouflaged on panel, 56 by 82 cm.