The Hour Before Eating

Clara Peeters was one of the very few women painting still life in her time, and Table shows why she is worth the attention. This slow art meditation moves across a white cloth laid with a gilt cup, a salt cellar, an earthenware jug, a pie, and a porcelain dish of olives beside roast fowl. Light picks out every surface differently: metal, glaze, crust, brine. Nothing here is arranged casually. This work can be seen at The Museo Nacional del Prado.