Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose

1633

Oil on canvas, 62.2 × 109.5 cm. Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena

Light from the left falls on objects of very different local value: pale yellow citrons, darker oranges, a white cup and reflective pewter plates.

Each object keeps its own value in light and in shadow, so the row reads clearly against the dark background.
The museum notes that the orange leaves create a "rhythm of light and shadow".
A 2008 cleaning removed opaque varnish; this older photograph probably shows the duller surface from before it.

Concepts

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain