Silver Wine Jug, Ham, and Fruit

With their typically large scale, and loose and energetic brushwork, Abraham van Beyeren’s opulent still life paintings were designed to be seen from a slight distance—perhaps installed over a mantelpiece. Here, for example, the silver wine jug is painted with rough strokes that seem almost abstract when viewed up close, but from a distance it becomes a fully realized object shimmering with complex reflections—including a ghostly self-portrait of the artist at his easel.