It is fascinating to read and learn about what different foods signified.
In the 17th century Dutch Golden Age, a period of unprecedented class mobility and wealth accrual, art proliferation reached a fever pitch; between 1580 and 1800, approximately 5,000 artists produced almost 10 million paintings, less than one percent of which have survived to the present day. Interestingly, the Dutch Reformed Protestant Church explicitly forbade religious iconography during this period, insisting that it cheapened the subject matter.
A lot of the foods and objects would have some significance towards religion and the church which seems quite normal for this era.
These foods all symbolise something different in Dutch still life -
Bread - the body of Christ
Milk - ‘Noble liquid’ is what the dutch would call the substance in the 17th century, it symbolised cultural heritage and pride in local produce.
Oyster - often have an erotic meaning, but when they are painted with austere foods, they usually signify choosing desire over Christ.
Medlar - often depicted as sex work as the fruit is not edible until it is beginning to go bad, they used them as a way of showing the destruction of purity
Lemons - deceptive beauty of carnality
Snails - Virgin Birth
Pomegranate- resurrection, immortality and fertility, this was influenced by the story of Persephone, another Greek influence.
Lobster - Gluttony
I find it so amusing and intriguing to find all of these hidden meanings which were depicted in this era, it is very interesting to see how they believed that these items would signify such important and big topics. I have only fallen in love with the idea of symbolism more through doing this research, it is definitely one of the most appealing subject and I am very much looking forward to working with it in my photography.
https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/in_depth/a-symbolism-guide-to-the-spooky-world-of-dutch-still-lives-56298