Active in Baltimore by 1810, Cornelius de Beet brought European still life conventions to Maryland. Here, a pyramid of nature’s riches — grapes, peaches, berries, roses, and tulips — is piled on a tabletop. At the pyramid’s foot lies a small deceased bird. With its bright plumage, the little black-and-white songbird (probably a red-capped cardinal) attracts the eye immediately as a reminder of the fleeting duration of life. Born and trained in Amsterdam, de Beet created a still life that evokes earlier Netherlandish painting traditions. Parrot tulips at the top of the pyramid recall the speculative “tulipomania” that led many a 17th-century Dutchman to bankrupt himself speculating on the sale of exotic tulip bulbs.