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'' 69 cm , oil on wood still life '' -lrb- 1637 -rrb- 82 x 1639 amsterdam , netherlands netherlands 260px 1595/96 jan jansz . den uyl stillleben 1637.jpg jan den uyl
 jan jansz den uyl the elder
jan den uyl

jan jansz .
den uyl -lrb- utrecht -lrb- ? -rrb-
, 1595/96 -- 24 november 1639 -rrb- was a painter of the dutch golden age .
he very much specialized in the form of still life known as the breakfast piece , or , in the elaborate style of painters like den uyl , banquet pieces -lrb- `` banketjestukken '' -rrb- .
he also painted landscapes and animal paintings .
den uyl was well known in his time , and peter paul rubens owned three of his paintings .
although den uyl is nowadays comparatively unknown , one of his paintings , in the collection of gerald guterman , has been called the `` most beautifully perfect dutch monochrome still-life in existence '' .
the dutch word `` uyl '' means `` owl '' , and den uyl always included the signature motif of an owl in his paintings , often more than once in a single picture .
sometimes the motif is obvious and sometimes it is more covert .
for example , in his `` breakfast still life with glass and metalwork '' -lrb- 1637 -- 39 -rrb- , in the museum of fine arts , boston , an owl is incorporated fairly obviously as the decorative finial on a large flagon , but the reflections in the pewter plates are also reminiscent of the face of an owl .
he trained jan jansz .
treck and married his sister in 1619 .
