All is Gift, All is Passing Away, and All Shall Be Made New: Nuanced Vanitas and Resurrection Hope in Willem Claeszoon Heda's 1633 Still life

Description

The table is set: In his 1633 Still life with an overturned silver tazza, glassware, pies, and a peeled lemon on a table, Willem Claeszoon Heda spreads before us a theologically rich feast. This painting is an exemplar of the popular subgenre of breakfast piece (ontbijt), depicting not necessarily a morning meal but any solitary meal which breaks a fast, perhaps at an inn after a long journey. Heda’s 1633 Still life likely would have hung in the interior of a Dutch home, perhaps in a kitchen or dining area, where it would have invited meditation in the midst of everyday life.

After offering a thick description of this painting and surveying the history of the interpretation of such paintings, I sketch a visual theology of Heda’s 1633 Still life which takes into account the pervasive Calvinist imaginary of the time. I argue that Heda’s 1633 Still life is a nuanced vanitas painting which hints at resurrection hope, affirming not only that all is gift, even as all is passing away, but also that these temporal gifts are harbingers of a delightfully solid and substantial New Creation in the age to come.

Period	28 Mar 2025
Event title	RCSA Academic Symposium
Event type	Conference
Location	Vancouver, Canada, British ColumbiaShow on map