Plant biologist Ive De Smet was appreciating a painting when his friend and traveling companion, David Vergauwen, asked him if he could identify the fruit in the artwork. De Smet wasn’t sure, so ...

When Isabella Dalla Ragione assesses a Renaissance painting, she doesn’t immediately notice the brushstrokes or the magnificence of the imagery. The first thing she notices is the fruit. On a ...

Plant geneticist Ive De Smet and art historian David Vergauwen studied Fruit Stall firsthand during a visit to the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg several years ago.

Well, you’re not alone. A plant biologist and an art historian have teamed up to catalog the fruits and vegetables in works of art. They’re looking at details in these paintings and sculptures as a ...

I like fruit and nuts as much as anyone. But I can’t say I spend much time thinking about them. In art, I am a bit of a sucker for a lemon painted by Zurbarán or an orange by Manet, and I don ...

Giovanni Stanchi (Rome c. 1645-1672). Oil on canvas, 38 5/8 x 52½ in. Christie's Images Ltd. Paintings can be a window to more than the outmoded dress and strange customs of the past ...