Banquet Still Life with Silver and Gilt Vessels, a Nautilus Shell, Porcelain, Food and Other Items on a Draped Table

Luycks executed a large number of works in the banketjestukken (banquet scenes) tradition that combined flowers, fruit and vanitases. Banquet Still Life with Silver and Gilt Vessels is notable for its unusual size for a work on copper and indisputably represents a masterpiece in the artist’s oeuvre. An upward diagonal marked out by the drapery and tipped-over ewer runs across the composition, which is punctuated by the vertical lines formed by the various silver and gilt vessels that find a parallel in the columns. The reflection in the tazza of an otherwise concealed object shows the artist’s meticulous attention to detail. This still life has a singular place within Luycks’ work due to the play of light – rarely rendered in so eloquent a manner – and the size of the sheet of copper, a material that lends itself particularly well to gleaming finishes.