Bodegón
Bodegóns are a type of painting from the 17th-century Spanish Baroque period, which are still lifes of food and household objects in nondescript or humble surroundings. They sometimes depicts commoners selling food, eating, or drinking. "Bodegón" is Spanish for "still life", yet the style is only one part of what are called "still lifes" in English.
The artistic objective of Spanish bodegón painters was to render the scene with impactful realism. Careful attention was dedicated to capture the textures of the objects and to create believable dimensionality, by using different types of brushstrokes and the technique of chiaroscuro. In many cases, bodegón paintings can be considered as vanitas, a Baroque sub-genre that had the purpose to remind viewers of the futility of pursuing earthly pleasures or craving for possessions considering death's inevitability. Specific objects with a symbolic association with death were added to the compositions, including skulls, fading flowers, or decomposing food. Important painters of bodegones include Juan Sánchez Cotán, the style's pioneer; Alejandro [de Loarte]; Antonio de Pereda; Diego Velázquez; Francisco de Zurbarán; Juan de Arellano; and Luis Menéndez Pidal.
History
In 17th century Spain, the term bodegón referred to an eating and drinking place for commoners, equivalent to a tavern. The term started to be used in the art world to refer to a type of pictorial composition that included common items such as food and kitchen utensils, like those you would see in an actual "bodegón".Juan Sánchez Cotán is considered the pioneer of the Spanish bodegón genre, with his painting Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber.
The painter and art teacher Francisco Pacheco wrote in his 1649 painting textbook El Arte de la Pintura that Spanish bodegones were a different genre than just paintings of fruit, fish, fowl, meat, vegetables, saying they carry a deeper meaning, and are more than just "pretty pictures".
Spanish bodegones were very different from the still-lifes that were made popular by painters in Flanders and the Netherlands. These still-lifes depicted ornate and luxurious items or colorful flower arrangements. Their purpose was to generate an appreciation of fine objects and the enjoyment of sensorial pleasures.
Several Spanish bodegones fall into the category of vanitas paintings, which have the purpose to convey the very opposite: the futility of pursuing earthly pleasures or craving for wealth in light of the certainty of death. They are usually somber and the objects are simple and commonplace. Rather than expensive curtains or mantels, the backgrounds are plain walls or just dark brown or black backgrounds, as if in a room with a few candlelights.