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Willem Van Aelst

Decent Essays

After reading my peers’ interpretation of the still life by Willem Van Aelst, I came to the decision that most of the student’s responses weren’t what the artist envisioned the viewer’s to see. We all acknowledged similar features, but we were all shown how incorrect we were in Thursday’s class discussion.
Each of us observed similar aspects in the painting. The central features that were pointed out were the objects of the blue, velvet bag, the ivory horn, and the various birds. The blue bag was where I concentrated on when I observed the painting as a whole. I feel that its color really stood out compared to the rest of the painting. The bag formed a contrast with the background as well as the prominent, white, bird in the center of the …show more content…

The carving then became apparent as I focused intensively towards the outer regions of the painting. It represented three naked women, viewed from behind, in the outside world. In between the straps, of the hunting bag, lies a tree which contributes to the wilderness scene. This then poses the questions as to who are these women and why are they here? In class, it was then added that the woman looked like Greek women based off of the common known statues of Greek individuals. That being suggested, the class then made the assumption that the women in the carving of the marble table could be Artemis, the goddess of the wilderness and hunt. This is very likely as Artemis pertains to the entire scene being portrayed: the aftermath of a hunt. Another way that the carving can be tied to Artemis, is through the story of Artemis and Acateon. In this myth, Acateon is a hunter and is wandering in to the forest when he sees Artemis bathing. In retaliation, she transforms Acateon into a deer and his hunting dogs rip him apart. This painting would be an accurate display to have in a house where someone hunts. For the piece represents the activity that whomever loves to do so

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