The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 13, 2026

A horizontally oriented oil painting depicts a table crowded with food, at the center of which a dark ham sits on a platter beside yellow butter curls on a blue-and-white plate. At left, a wicker basket overflows with artichokes and fruit above a sliced fish on a red plate. At right, three animal trotters rest on a pewter dish beside red grapes and a bowl of berries. A white, damask tablecloth covers the surface.

Still Life with Meat, Fish, Vegetables, and Fruit

c. 1615–20

Jacob van Hulsdonck

(Flemish, 1582–1647)
Flanders
Oil on panel, the reverse prepared with gesso
71.5 x 104 cm (28 1/8 x 40 15/16 in.)
Gift of Janice Hammond and Edward Hemmelgarn 2018.258
Location: 213 Dutch Painting

Did You Know?

Hulsdonck thoughtfully included condiments here: butter, lemon, parsley for the trotters, and a dab of mustard for the ham.

Description

Jacob van Hulsdonck depicted a colorful array of foods, and tablewares ranging from an earthenware trencher to delicate Chinese porcelain—an expensive luxury made possible by international trade. For seventeenth-century viewers, the quantity and variety of foods would have represented a utopian world without scarcity or hunger. Partially eaten food and an overturned glass suggest that diners have just departed, leaving insects to explore the remains.
  • by 1809
    Johann Melchior Edler von Birkenstock [1738–1809], Vienna
    1811
    (Artaria, Vienna, Johan Melchior Edler von Birkenstock sale, March 1811, lot 387 [not sold])
    c. 1811
    Antonia (Anthonie) Brentano (née von Birkenstock) [1780–1869], Frankfurt
    Kohlbacher, Frankfurt, Antonia von Brentano sale, April 4–6, 1870, lot 29 (purchased by seller's grandson, Emil Georg von Brentano)
    Emil Georg von Brentano [1845–1890], Frankfurt
    Presumably by descent to Franz Anton Johann von Brentano (1882–1940), Frankfurt
    Franz Anton Johann von Brentano and Marga Luise von Brentano [née von Heister; d. 1964]
    By descent to Bettina Birstein [née von Brentano; d. 1978]
    By descent to Hiltrud Michaeli (née Birstein), Saarbrücken
    2012
    (Sotheby's, London, December 5, 2012, lot 10 [as “The Property of a Lady”])
    (Johnny van Haeften, London)
  • Frimmel, Theodor von. Lexikon der Wiener Gemäldesammlungen. vol. 1. München: G. Müller, 1913. Mentioned: p. 160
    P. Mason, in Dutch and Flemish Old Master Paintings (London: Johnny Van Haeften, 2013), n.p. Mentioned and reproduced: no. 14
    Slow Food: Dutch and Flemish Meal Still Lifes, 1600-1640. Mauritshuis, The Hague (March 9 - May 25, 2017). Catalogue by Quentin Buvelot, Yvonne Bleyerveld, Milou Goverde, Zoran Kwak, Anne Lenders, Fred G. Meijer, and Charlotte Rulkens. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 142–146, 201–202, no. 13
    The Land We Live In…The Land We Left Behind. Hauser & Wirth, Somerset (January 20– May 7, 2018) www.hauserwirth.com
    Wieseman, Marjorie E. "Acquisitions 2018: European Paintings and Sculpture, 1500-1800.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 59, no. 2 (March/April 2019): 5, 13-15. Reproduced: P. 5, 15; Mentioned: P. 14, 15. archive.org
    Shields, Scott A., Matt Gonzalez, Paul Wonner, and William Theo Brown. Breaking the Rules: Paul Wonner and Theophilus Brown. New York, NY : Scala Arts Publishers ; Sacramento, CA : Crocker Art Museum, 2023. Reproduced: p. 88
  • The Land We Live In…The Land We Left Behind. Hauser & Wirth, Somerset (January 20– May 7, 2018)
    Slow Food: Dutch and Flemish Meal Still Lifes, 1600-1640. Mauritshuis, The Hague (March 9 - May 25, 2017). Cat. no. 13
  • {{cite web|title=Still Life with Meat, Fish, Vegetables, and Fruit|url=false|author=Jacob van Hulsdonck|year=c. 1615–20|access-date=13 September 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.258