Tickets
English
DonateMembershipTickets

Still Life with Grapes and a Bird

ca. 1500–1510
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 617
This is among the earliest surviving independent still lifes in European painting. It playfully refers to a celebrated but long-lost work by the fifth-century-BCE Greek painter Zeuxis, who “produced a picture of grapes so successfully represented that birds flew up to it.” This sort of classically-inspired picture appealed to erudite patrons such as Isabella d’Este (1474–1539), marchioness of Mantua, for whom we know Leonelli painted a still life in 1506; he was, in fact, compared to Zeuxis by a scholar writing in 1513.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Still Life with Grapes and a Bird
  • Artist: Antonio Leonelli (Antonio da Crevalcore) (Italian, Crevalcore, born by 1443–died by 1525, Bologna (?))
  • Date: ca. 1500–1510
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 15 5/8 × 15 5/8 in. (39.7 × 39.7 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Stanley David Moss, 2026
  • Object Number: 2026.518
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
Lobster-Tail Burgonet, Steel, leather, gold, North Italian
Lobster-Tail Burgonet
North Italian
ca. 1610
The Dream of the Shepherd (Der Traum des Hirten), Ferdinand Hodler Swiss, Oil on canvas
The Dream of the Shepherd (Der Traum des Hirten)
Ferdinand Hodler
1896
A Bouquet of Flowers, Clara Peeters Flemish, Oil on wood
A Bouquet of Flowers
Clara Peeters
ca. 1612
Armor, Steel, copper alloy, textile, leather, Italian
Armor
Italian
ca. 1400–1450 and later
Captain George K. H. Coussmaker (1759–1801), Sir Joshua Reynolds British, Oil on canvas
Captain George K. H. Coussmaker (1759–1801)
Sir Joshua Reynolds
1782

Related Content

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.