noun
( plural still lifes also still lives )
Etymology: translation of Dutch stilleven
1.
a. : a picture consisting predominantly of inanimate objects
so slow in painting still lifes that the flowers and fruit in his models would rot before he got them painted — Winthrop Sargeant
b. : something that resembles such a picture
the novel will remain … just an interesting small-town still life in which figures are caught in careful needlepoint — James Kelly
2. : the category of the graphic arts concerned with inanimate objects as subject matter
still life … is an excellent means of developing a sense of pictorial balance — American Photography