Floris Claesz van Dijck

Floris van Dijck helped invent the Dutch laid table still life. His pictures show a table covered with a white damask cloth, set with wheels of cheese, bread, fruit, nuts and fine glass and pewter, seen from slightly above and painted with sharp clarity.

He was born in Delft around 1575 and spent most of his life in Haarlem. As a young man he was in Rome around 1600, where he befriended the painter known as the Cavaliere d’Arpino. He returned to the Netherlands and joined the Haarlem painters’ guild in 1610, later becoming its dean. His work influenced Pieter Claesz and Floris van Schooten. The Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem has his Still Life of 1610.

Laid Table with Cheeses and Fruit is typical. Look at the folds in the tablecloth and the stacked cheeses. He died in Haarlem in 1651.