Still Life with Sweets

About the Artwork

Placed on a simple stone ledge, this bold arrangement includes a wooden box, a dark glass bottle, some walnuts, an elaborate Venetian glass, and several sweets called turrones. These delicacies are a mixture of pine nuts, honey, almonds, and hazelnuts. The picture may not represent an actual meal or snack. Rather, the artist played with contrasts and harmonies of shapes, textures, and colors. During his short career van der Hamen, whose father was from the Netherlands, worked at the Spanish royal court and created biblical pictures, history paintings, allegories, and landscapes. He is best known for his portraits and still lifes.

Inscriptions

Signed lower left: "Ju Vander Hamen/ de Leon fa[t], 1622"

Provenance

Rodriguez Miramón coll., Mexico (c. 1920); (New York sale 1979); (Newhouse Galleries, New York)

Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981). The Magic of Still Life. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 4, 1986-February 1, 1987). Juan van der Hamen y León and the Court of Madrid. Palacio Real de Madrid, Madrid, Spain (October 1, 2005-January 1, 2006); Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX (March 16-May 28, 2006). Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso: Time, Truth, and History. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (November 17, 2006-March 28, 2007). El Greco to Velázquez: Art at the Court of Philip III. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (organizer) (April 13-July 27, 2008); Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (August 22-November 9, 2008).

Quick Overview

Artist: Juan van der Hamen y Léon (Spanish, 1596–1631)
Date: 1622
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: Framed: 83 x 122 x 7.5 cm (32 11/16 x 48 1/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 58 x 97 cm (22 13/16 x 38 3/16 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: European Painting and Sculpture
Credit line: John L. Severance Fund
Accession no.: 1980.6

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.