Still Life,

ca. 1650–57

The apparent jumble of this tabletop still life belies Stoskopff’s carefully planned composition. He juxtaposed works of art and objects from nature, evoking the artificialia and naturalia (crafted and natural objects) of seventeenth-century curiosity cabinets. The art—a toppled plaster bust, a bronze statuette of Athena, a miniature portrait of a contemporary young man, an album opened to an idyllic image, a gold chain with a portrait medallion, and a print of architectural ruins—attests to the painter’s ability to capture various materials and surfaces. Many of these objects evoke an ancient past, fueling a meditation on the passage of time. The examples of speckled shells, which many Europeans collected—a large Conus geographus, two Conus marmoreus seen from different perspectives, and a Mitra mitra—point to the awesome diversity and beauty of God’s creation. Like the collector’s cabinets that inspired it, the painting encourages both contemplation and delight.