Existing comment:
Still Life, or Nature Morte"
The French term for a still life is nature morte -- literally, "dead nature" -- no doubt because these compositions frequently include decaying fruits and lifeless animals, sometimes as a comment on the passage of time and the vanity of earthly delights. For Guérard, the term was particularly meaningful, since a number of his still lifes do, in fact, relate to the themes of death he pursued elsewhere. |