The phrase “Still Life” comes from a dutch word “Stilleven”. This phrase became popular in the 16th century because during this time, it started to become recognised as a genre of painting. Though, the actual painting style was being used by artists for much longer before. Still Life is a genre that consists of using non-living objects, such as flowers and fruits to show meaning within the image. These meanings can be things such as showing power or wealth, by doing things such as changing the types of flowers or fruits being used. Vanita is another style of Still Life. Vanitas typically show something to do with mortality or death, usually through the use of objects like skulls to achieve this.

The image above is a painting by Sir Nathaniel Bacon. He was a British painter. He created this painting toward the end of his life during the 1620s, when this kind of genre was just really gaining popularity. The image above shows lots of different fruits and vegetables. These were all grown in England at the time, but were not all within season at the time of the image. This creates an idea of wealth because it means they are able to get these items imported during times of the year when they don’t grow in England. The idea of wealth can lead an idea of power due to them having access to lots of different expensive and non-seasonal fruits and vegetables, with the image showing off what they have, while others, especially at the time will not be as fortunate and may not really have anything.