North Carolina Museum of Art

At 135 inches in width, Snyders' still life cannot fail to impress, as it must have when he became the first to paint market scenes on such a scale. Snyders' native Antwerp was then the leading commercial and artistic center of Flanders. This type of subject had been initiated by Pieter Aertsen in the same city during the previous century with such paintings as the Museum's Butcher's Stall. Snyders, as the foremost Flemish still life artist of his time, specialized in market scenes and compositions that included game animals. He, in fact, contracted with Rubens and others to execute still life elements for some of their commissions. Snyders was so successful that he employed assistants to paint portions of his compositions. The quality of fur and feathers in this work indicates that the master himself painted the deer, cat, swan, partridges, and curlew. Snyders observed his game birds with such remarkable specificity that each species can be identified. This luxurious display of the abundance of Antwerp's commercial port probably carries propagandistic overtones relating to the Spanish administration of Flanders or to the prosperity brought by the peace that followed recent war. Such produce as the artichokes and melon were relatively rare in Flanders and demonstrated the wealth of the city.