Still Life - Balsam Apples and Vegetables
{{Short description|Painting by James Peale}}
{{Infobox artwork
| image_file=File:James Peale - Still Life - Balsam Apples and Vegetables - WGA17123.jpg
| caption=
| alt=
|image_size =
| title=Still Life: Balsam Apple and Vegetables
| other_language_1=
| other_title_1=
| other_title_2=
| artist=James Peale
| subject=
| year={{circa}} 1820s
| material=Oil on canvas
| height_metric=51.4
| width_metric=67.3
| city=
| museum=Metropolitan Museum of Art
}}
Still Life: Balsam Apple and Vegetables is an early 19th century oil painting by American painter James Peale. Done in oil on canvas, the painting depicts a number of vegetables set on a table. The work is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is considered Peale's finest still life.
Description
The painting is a still life, created to allow for an accurate representation of a physical object on a painted canvas.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wga.hu/html_m/p/peale/stillife.html|title=Still Life: Balsam Apples and Vegetables by PEALE, James|website=www.wga.hu|access-date=2018-07-13}} According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's description of the work, the painting is possibly an "experimental exercise" created during the peak of Peale's career.{{Cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11734?sortBy=Relevance&high=on&od=on&ft=*&offset=160&rpp=100&pos=211|title=Still Life: Balsam Apple and Vegetables|last=|first=|date=|website=www.metmuseum.org|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2018-07-13}} The painting is noted as being similar to the Spanish School of still life painting due to its focus on vegetables.
= Vegetables depicted =
From left to right, the vegetables depicted in the painting are as follows,
- Far left - Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)
- 2nd from left - Blue-green cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata)
- 3rd from left - Savoy cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. sabauda)
- 4th from left - Hubbard squash (Cucurbita maxima)
- 5th from left - Eggplant (Solanum melongena)
- 6th from left - Balsam apple (Momordica charantia)
- 7th from left - Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)
- 8th from left (farthest right) - Purple-red cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. rubra)
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Met-stub}}
External Links
{{Spoken Wikipedia|date=2025-04-13|En-Still-Life-Balsam-Apple-and-Vegetables-article.ogg}}