A still life is a work of art, most often a painting. In a still life, objects like flowers, fruit, or glasses are arranged in a certain way, and then painted. Most still lifes are of inanimate objects manmade or natural.Still life painting has been popular since the 17th century, when Dutch painters like Adriaen Coorte raised it to a fine art. However, the idea is old: examples can be found in antiquity. With a still life, the artist can focus more on composition and arrangement than with other forms of painting, such as landscape painting or portraiture.