Description of the painting by Frans Snyders “Vegetable shop”

Description of the painting by Frans Snyders Vegetable shop

The painting “Vegetable Shop” shows a common household story. Three people are depicted – two women and one boy. A young girl came to the vegetable shop to buy groceries. She is wearing a red fluffy blouse, a dark skirt and a white apron, and a beige broad-brimmed hat on her head. Saleswoman dressed in simple clothes – gray jacket, green skirt.

One of the main roles assigned to the child. A dark spot that contrasts sharply with the surrounding luxury of the gifts of nature. This is not just a boy, this is a small but already formed robber, who steals a purse with money from a young girl. The fertility of mother earth and the poverty of her children – people. The artist contributes the figure of the thief, opposing it to all this wealth, opposing it to the whole world.

Human figures are placed under a white canopy. To their left is a horse that is trying to eat a piece of cabbage. Our gaze

reveals only a small part of the horse’s body. This technique is used by the artist to show the immensity of the canvas – the figures literally cannot fit into the space of the picture. In the background is the city wall.

The foreground of the picture is entirely devoted to vegetables. For the artist, these are not just products, they are gifts of nature, which symbolize the generosity and fertility of the Flemish lands. We see that each vegetable is drawn with extraordinary precision, with many details. The colors are bright, saturated. Most vegetables are placed in baskets. On the left, we see a large wicker basket, in which we put different varieties of cabbage. At the bottom are bulbs, garlic, several large zucchini and roots. Nearby there are two pelvis, but they are clearly not used for business purposes: they are clean, with an openwork list.

There are also five small baskets near the saleswoman. At the very bottom is a basket with green pea pods. A little higher – mushrooms, a few lettuce bushes, carrots; there is also a small basket with a gooseberry.


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Description of the painting by Frans Snyders “Vegetable shop”