Emblematic Still Life with Flagon, Glass, Jug and Bridle

In 1614, the year on this panel, the Amsterdam poet Roemer Visscher published Sinnepoppen, a book that paired everyday objects with short moral lessons. Emblem books like it were popular in the Dutch Republic, and Torrentius plays the same game in paint.

Look at the sheet of paper at the bottom. It carries two lines of music and a verse the Rijksmuseum translates as “what is out of measure perishes in immeasurable evil.” In Dutch the key word, maat, means both a musical beat and moderation, so the song is itself about keeping measure. Between the pewter flagon and the stoneware jug stands a glass of white wine. Above them hangs a bridle, the gear used to rein in a horse and an old sign of self-control. The painter's monogram and the date are on its metal bit.