ISAAK SOREAU (FRANKFURT, 1604 – FRANKFURT, 1644) Still Life with Grapes c. 1640 Oil on panel 47 x 63 cm. Expert Opinion We would like to thank Dr Fred G. Meijer for confirming the authenticity of this work. Provenance In the same family for over 40 years. This composition of fruit stands out against a dark, plain background, painted with broad brushstrokes. Bunches of white and black grapes, a few peaches and a branch of damson plums are contained within a wicker basket with an openwork design. Some of the fruit still have their leaves attached, which adds to the impression of abundance. Placed on a simple wooden table, the basket is accompanied, on the left, by a pair of cherries and a cut carnation which clearly do not come from the basket, unlike the bunch of grapes on the right, which has just fallen from it. The coexistence and arrangement of these different fruits is therefore not coincidental but carries symbolic significance. Thus, in the basket, peaches – symbols of kindness and truth – are combined with black plums – symbols of humility – and grapes, which represent the nourishment of lovers and the slow ripening of feelings. Further down, the two cherries evoke sensuality, whilst the carnation symbolises marriage... Like an exercise in style, the arrangement here is emblematic of Isaak Soreau’s works, in which one can appreciate his meticulous execution, his smooth brushwork and his static composition. Isaak Soreau (1604–1644) was a German painter who specialised in still lifes. His family, originally from Flanders, settled in Frankfurt, Germany, to join the supporters of the Reformation. His father, Daniel, initially worked for the family’s wool business, then as a painter and architect. Trained in his father’s workshop—which was taken over in 1619 upon his father’s death by Sé- bastien Stoskopff (1597–1657), who completed his apprenticeship—Isaak moved to Antwerp in 1626, where he was probably a pupil of Jacob Van Hulsdonck (1582–1647). A keen observer of flowers and fruit, he displayed exceptional technique and rare precision. From one work to the next, whilst repeating the same composition, he would include details or omit certain fruits to distinguish them. Whilst the painting, held at the Petit Palais, features a more horizontal arrangement, in which a basket filled with bunches of grapes is flanked on the left by a deep plate of blue-and-white Chinese porcelain and on the right by a pewter dish containing plums, here here the carnation in place of the anemone. Soreau was influenced by Stoskopff in his choices, which emphasised the natural beauty of objects and the bounty of nature, but also the opulence of Flemish still lifes through his exposure to Van Hulsdonck. Little known to art historians until the mid-20th century, Isaak Soreau is now sought after by art lovers and his paintings feature in the