52 | Wondrous Objects sense, it is not central to an analysis of their meanings, It does seem logical that the paintings were ‘meant to be seen (together) from a vantage point considerably below the canvases, in a room large enough to hold them comfortably. They all have the same format; the objects are displayed on shelves seen from below. They are set against open skies that, in most of the pictures, are cloudy and reminiscent of northern Europe rather than the luminous, intensely bright skies of Brazil. In two instances baskets or other con- tainers appear, while in the other paintings the fruits and vegetables are loosely arranged on the surface. The comestibles are situated close to the picture plane ina way that has few paral- lels in other Duteh still lifes. Eekhout's paint- ings are unique in their lack of landscape specificity. The fruits and vegetables stand out as monumental objects, with nothing but them- selves to indicate seale. Unlike the figure com- positions, which all bear the artist's name if not his signatuze, there are no inseriptions on the still lifes.»