FRANS SNYDERS

This elaborate still life is dominated by a wreath of fruit, vegetables, and grains that frames a bust of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, fertility, and summer. The wreath is suspended from flanking male and female satyrlike terms (statues of Terminus, the god of boundaries). Among the many creatures Snyders includes in the picture are a crested woodpecker, monkey, and squirrel. This painting may have been designed as a screen to cover a fireplace during the summer months.