Merchants of the Dutch Golden Age filled their town houses with paintings. But these upright Calvinist citizens rejected biblical subjects and Baroque melodrama. Favourite themes were found closer to home. Still Lifes reflect the prosperity and self-esteem of the new Republic. But is there more to Dutch art than meets the eye? Banquets and breakfasts celebrate an abundance of foodstuffs. Could the curl of lemon peel, platter of oysters, bowl of blemished fruit warn of the dangers of gluttony and pleasures of the flesh? Join me to explore the secret symbolic language of Still Life paintings and become a fluent reader of ‘Double Dutch’!