Gooseberries on a Table1701 · Study 1987.32

Context from the museum

Coorte worked in Middelburg, a wealthy maritime city in the southern part of the Netherlands that fostered a poetic, scientific, and spiritual examination of the natural world. Gooseberries—a modest, local pleasure—could be picked in the wild, although Dutch gardeners in the 1600s were the first to cultivate them to improve their taste. The strong illumination gives the plant a stark grandeur, despite the small scale, and the dark background emphasizes the fruit's delicate translucency. The dessicated flower petals and waxy leaves contrast with the succulent gooseberries, with their skin on the verge of bursting.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected unframed measurement for Gooseberries on a Table is 22.8 cm wide and 29.7 cm high, equivalent to approximately 9.0 × 11.7 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.77:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.07 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 7.6% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 138.6 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Gooseberries on a Table in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, oil on paper mounted on wood, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 22.8 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?