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Still Life with Five Apricots

Five apricots on a tabletop. The green leaves of the fruit are speckled with insect holes.

Adriaen Coorte (active c. 1683–1707)
Still Life with Five Apricots, 1704
Oil on canvas
11 7/8 x 9 ¼ in. (30 x 23.5 cm)
Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague
Anonymous gift, 2006
Inv. no. 1154

Unlike many of his contemporaries who painted still lifes filled with precious wares and expensive delicacies, Coorte preferred common objects and simple compositions. In a possible nod to the vanitas genre, many of his pictures feature perishable items such as are seen here. A speckling of insect holes apparent on two of the crisp leaves also suggests this theme.

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