What is Still life?
[[File:Coorte, Adriaen - Still Life with Shells - 1697.jpg|thumb|270px| [[Adriaen Coorte]], Shells (1697)]] [[File:stilmous1.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Abraham van Beyeren]], ''Banquet Still Life'' (c. 1660)]] A '''still life''' is a work of art, most often a [[painting]]. In a still life, objects like [[flower]]s, [[fruit]], or [[glass]]es are arranged in a certain way, and then painted. Most still lifes are of inanimate objects manmade or natural.Still life painting has been popular since the 17th century, when Dutch painters like [[Adriaen Coorte]] raised it to a fine art. However, the idea is old: examples can be found in [[Ancient history|antiquity]]. With a still life, the artist can focus more on composition and arrangement than with other forms of painting, such as landscape painting or portraiture. <gallery> Image:Pompejanischer Maler um 70 001.jpg|Transparent bowl of fruit and vases. [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] wall painting in [[Pompeii]] (around 70 AD) Image:Oeillets et clématite dans un vase de cristal (ca.1882) - Edouard Manet (Musée d'Orsay, Paris).jpg|[[Edouard Manet]], ''Carnations and Clematis in a Crystal Vase'' (1883) </gallery> {{stub}} [[Category:Art]]