(Frankenthal 1613/14–1681 Frankfurt am Main)
Grapes on a tazza with a pomegranate and other fruit on and by a silver dish,
signed and dated lower right: Jacob Marrel/ fecit 167...,
oil on canvas, 48 x 36.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
sale, Sotheby’s, London, 22 April 2009, lot 25;
where acquired by the present owner

The present sumptuous still life is an outstanding example of the oeuvre of the German still life painter Jacob Marrel. From the lustrous skins of the grapes to the glistening flesh of the pomegranates offset by the luxurious metallic sheen of the silver tazza and salver on which all the fruit is piled, Marrel’s mastery different textures is readily apparent. Adding to the rich array is the green velvet drape upon the table, complimenting the verdant leaves hanging from the stems of the cherries and gooseberries on the left of the composition. The succulent promise of a sliced open peach in the centre contrasts, however, with the scuttling ugly form of the earwig beneath, and the nibbled edges of the leaves above, along with the spider descending from the tazza. At the top of the picture, the sense of insects ready to gnaw away at this image of beauty, is further suggested by a hovering bumblebee.

The sense of imminent decay – of a sobering note to the air of indulgence in earthly pleasures, may derive from Jacob Marrel’s background as the son of Protestant refugees, a trait he shared with another Utrecht still-life painter, Roelandt Savery (1578–1639) to whose works those of Marrel are deeply indebted. Born in Frankenthal, a town in the Rhineland with a strong artistic community made up of immigrants from the Low Countries, Marrel trained in Frankfurt with Georg Flegel (1566–1638) before moving to Utrecht where he fell under the spell of the jewel-like paintings of Savery and was enraptured by the Antwerp Baroque brilliance of Jan Davidsz. de Heem (1606–1684). The present painting, whose red/green palette is redolent of that of de Heem’s pupil Abraham Mignon (1640–1679), is typical of Marrel’s refined output in the latter stages of his career.