Cornelis de HEEM Leiden, 1631 - Antwerp, 1695 Composition with lemon, bunch of grapes and oysters Oil on canvas, mounted on panel Signed 'C. DE HEEM f' lower left Reference in white paint 'EC / 239' on verso Composition with lemon, grappes and oysters, oil on canvas laid down on panel, signed, by C. de Heem 33,50 x 40,50 cm (13,19 x 15,94 in.) Provenance: Private collection, Brussels Comment: Although Jan Davidz. de Heem belongs to the Dutch school, the works of his son Cornelis make him more of a member of the Flemish school. Born in Leiden in 1631, he followed his father to Antwerp, where he joined the painters' guild in 1660-61. His work consists mainly of compositions of flowers and fruit. In our painting, the grapes, pomegranates and chestnuts are slowly amputated and devoured, while the plums and the peel of the unrolled lemon are suspended above the void, seeming to be in motion, on the verge of falling. The message is very clear: time is unfolding, irretrievably passing, just as surely as the life of the butterfly, at the top of the composition, is short. The oyster and the chestnut, symbols of lust, alert us to the futility of easy, unvirtuous pleasures. Just as the butterfly is a symbol of the Resurrection, the grapes and pomegranate remind us of Christ's Passion and the acceptance of death, making our composition a naturalistic vanity.