Still Life with Rotting Apples and Pig Organs

"All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls." 1 Peter 1:24

The idea of confronting themes related to death in still life is hardly my invention; nearly all still lifes include, to greater or lesser extent, a lament about the transience of all things. While those old 17th century Dutch paintings of flowers and fruit baskets can look quaint by contemporary standards, viewers at the time would have understood these kinds of works as a reminder that life, like the fruit and flowers, will soon be gone. Here I played around with the roots of still life, incorporating some rotting apples, in addition to the rotting porcine organs: heart, foot, and lower intestines. The tipped over cup is usually also a symbol of mortality in still life, it's meant to remind the viewer of the fragility of life. The intestines spilling out, perhaps suggesting blood, is my own little touch, because I love me some pig gore in art. Enjoy!