"Whenever you see flies or insects in a still life - a wilted petal, a black spot
on the apple - the painter is giving you a secret message. S/he's telling you that
living things don't last - it's all temporary. Death in life. That's why they're called
natures mortes. Maybe you don't see it at first with all the beauty and bloom,
the little speck of rot. But if you look closer - there it is." The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt