\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \pard\tx8790\ATXts240\ATXbrdr0 \f1 The desire to render sacred episodes credible and realistic led painters to set these scenes i
n everyday contexts, filled with familiar objects. Northern European artists were the first to try out this approach and to insert extraordinary pieces of still life into religious paintings, often assigning them allegorical meanings.\par
Even the depi
ction of a saint, with the distinctive attributes of the iconographic tradition, frequently provided the artist with an opportunity to display his skill in depicting a book, a piece of jewelry or the marks of a saintÆs martyrdom. \par
Baskets of bruised
or worm-eaten fruit that appear in sacred or mythological paintings are intended to prompt reflection on the transience of life. Such images often included bunches of grapes and vine shoots, symbols of Christ and his sacrifice that emerged in the late c
lassical age.\par
Other allusions to the transience of life and material possessions are to be found in still lifes made up of objects, known as \i Vanitas\i0 , in which the presence of clocks, hourglasses, pipes and extinguished candles refers to the p
assing of time, the fading of human pleasures and death. In the same way, paintings of set tables, with half-empty tankards and the leftovers of a meal, are an invitation to meditate on the brief span of life on earth and the salvation of the soul.
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\pard\ATXts240\ATXbrdr0 The rhythm of the seasons was often represented through compositions that depicted seasonal vegetables. In these compositions nature and artifice were fused, producing results that were highly appreciated even by the mo
