Jan Jansz. van de Velde, Still Life, 1658, oil on canvas, 38.1 x 30.48 cm (canvas). Gift of Bruce B. Dayton, 72.79 © Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Many still-life painters showed lavish arrangements of sumptuous food on precious gold and silver platters, but Jan van de Velde specialized in the more middle-class pleasures of tavern life. The pipe is broken. The rope molders away. The oysters, lemons, and wine will be consumed or will spoil. All of these are reminders of the transience of life. The playing cards may symbolize the vagaries of fate, and the wine could indicate redemption through Christ.