The Afternoon Meal (La Merienda)

Luis Meléndez

Oil on canvas

Metropolitan Museum of Art

A sumptuous array of melons, grapes, peaches, pears, and crusty bread tumbles across a stone ledge in this masterful Spanish still life, rendered with such tactile precision you can almost smell the ripe fruit. Luis Meléndez, the greatest Spanish still-life painter of the eighteenth century, used dramatic chiaroscuro and meticulous brushwork to elevate humble kitchen provisions into a meditation on abundance and the passage of time. Despite royal connections, Meléndez struggled financially throughout his life, pouring his considerable talent into these intimate scenes of everyday Spanish life instead of grand court commissions. This painting's warm earth tones and rustic basket, copper pot, and linen cloth would bring an old-world, sun-dappled elegance to any wall.