Bodegón

Bodegóns are a type of painting from the 17th-century Spanish Baroque period, which are still lifes of food and household objects (mostly culinary) in nondescript or humble surroundings. They sometimes depicts commoners selling food, eating, or drinking. "Bodegón" is Spanish for "still life", yet the style is only one part of what are called "still lifes" in English.

The artistic objective of Spanish bodegón painters was to render the scene with impactful realism. Careful attention was dedicated to capture the textures of the objects and to create believable dimensionality, by using different types of brushstrokes and the technique of chiaroscuro. In many cases, bodegón paintings can be considered as vanitas, a Baroque sub-genre that had the purpose to remind viewers of the futility of pursuing earthly pleasures or craving for possessions considering death's inevitability. Specific objects with a symbolic association with death were added to the compositions, including skulls, fading flowers, or decomposing food. Important painters of bodegones include Juan Sánchez Cotán, the style's pioneer; Alejandro de Loarte; Antonio de Pereda; Diego Velázquez; Francisco de Zurbarán; Juan de Arellano; and Luis Menéndez Pidal.

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