Still Lifes With Fruits, Roman Workshop From The First Half Of The 18th Century

Splendid pair of still lifes composed only of summer fruits: Grouped in a natural bed are melons and ripe watermelons, figs among their leaves, raisins, plums and peaches. From behind the bed, a crumbling tree trunk in the manner of Salvador Rosa looks out towards the distant landscape in the background reminiscent of the Campania-Lazio coasts.
The artistic sphere from which the composition takes its origin is that linked to the environments of the famous painter Giovanni Paolo Castelli known as Lo Spadino (Rome 1659 - Rome 1730), probably executed by one of his pupils or disciples.

There are many similarities with his brilliant production: First of all, the choice of the subject, that is to say the Summer Fruit that "Lo Spadino" liked to reproduce more than flowers, which he often combined with crockery, glass or silver to evoke the luxury of men and the sumptuousness of nature. But even this strong sense of simplicity permeates these two paintings, opposing an unusual research or the temptation of an intimate realism. It is through these conventional elements, in fact, that the Roman painter showed a certain taste for abundance and splendor combined with the ephemeral feeling of their precariousness.

Similarly, the compositions are arranged in compact, vividly colored masses with flecks of intense red as the light reverberates off the rough peels. Then the transparency of grapes and ripe plums, another distinctive element of Spadino, which with these exquisite effects tried to suggest the fragility of richness, and with the obligatory presence of the open fruit - pomegranate, melon or watermelon - tried to foreshadow the near end.

Bibliographic help source: https://www.treccani.it/encyclopedia/castelli-giovanni-paolo-detto-spadino_(Biografico-Dictionary)

Their measurements, including the gilded and carved frames, are: 78 cm long x 56 cm high.

The canvas measures: 62cm x 44cm.

The paintings have been recently restored.

We attach a historical certificate of authenticity to the sale.

www.antichitabompadre.com