only that he came to art at an early age and embarked on a successful career as a still life painter. At some point, he adopted the name Torrentius, translating the Dutch word “beeck” (brook ...

where he became enamored of 17th-century Dutch still life painting. The debt he owes to the artists he discovered there — masters such as Pieter Claesz, Willem Claeszoon Heda and Willem Kalf ...