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Still Life with Fruit (Caravaggio)
Encyclopedia
Still Life with Fruit is a painting by the Italian
Baroque
master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
(1571-1610).
The picture has been variously dated between 1601 and 1605 (Caravaggio scholar John T. Spike favours the later date in his 1996 study of the artist). It depicts a wicker basket heaped with various fruit and vegetables sitting on a stone table, caught in Caravaggio's usual strong yet mellow shaft of light falling from top left
, "as if through a hole in the ceiling." (Caravaggio at around this time was sued by a landlady for having cut a hole in the ceiling of the rooms he rented, presumably to create his characteristic lighting). The bulk of the space is taken up by the large melons, marrows and pumpkins, the watermelon and pumpkin cut open to display the interior, the marrows, long and twisting, seeming to wish to escape the two-dimensional space of the picture plane.
While at one level the painting is a bravura study of texture and form and light, the Renaissance
symbology of fruit and vegetables was rich and intricate, and given this fact and the fact that so many of Caravaggio's apparently simple paintings, such as Boy Bitten by a Lizard
, in fact carry coded messages, it is not unlikely that the Still Life with Fruit is equally complex. Nevertheless, no plausible reading has so far been advanced, although several commentators have noted the visual suggestiveness of the moistly cut fruits and melons and the writhing, thrusting marrows.
It was first recorded in the collection of Cardinal Antonio Barberini
in 1671 , as being "in the hand" of the artist; how it came to be there (and this is the first recorded mention of its existence) is open to speculation, but Barberini is known to have bought up part of the collection of Cardinal
Francesco Maria Del Monte
, Caravaggio's first patron, when the cardinal died in 1627 . It may therefore have been a private work for Del Monte.
Another possibility is that in 1644 Cardinal Antonio Barberini inherited the Still Life with Fruit from his uncle, Pope Urban VIII, who was the greatest patron of the Roman Baroque and an avid art collector. It is documented that in 1603, while he was still a cardinal, Urban VIII acquired a number of paintings directly from Caravaggio. The Still Life with Fruit could easily have been one of these. It shares the same dimensions and the same palette as the Sacrifice of Isaac now at the Uffizi, which is known to have been part of this group and which dates from the same period in Caravaggio's career.
Caravaggio has justly been credited as the father of Roman still-life painting, a genre which was in its infancy in the early 17th century. Although Caravaggio very frequently included still-life elements in his works, only two independent still lifes from his hand have been identified to date. These are the Still Life with Fruit and the Basket of Fruit at the Ambrosiana in Milan. Because of both the extraordinary virtuosity of its execution and the complexity of meaning suggested by its composition, scholars have referred to the Still Life with Fruit as a "capital picture for the artist" and a "masterpiece of still life."
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
(1571-1610).
The picture has been variously dated between 1601 and 1605 (Caravaggio scholar John T. Spike favours the later date in his 1996 study of the artist). It depicts a wicker basket heaped with various fruit and vegetables sitting on a stone table, caught in Caravaggio's usual strong yet mellow shaft of light falling from top left
Top-left lighting
Top-left lighting is an artistic convention in which illustrations are produced so that the light appears to come from the top left of the picture....
, "as if through a hole in the ceiling." (Caravaggio at around this time was sued by a landlady for having cut a hole in the ceiling of the rooms he rented, presumably to create his characteristic lighting). The bulk of the space is taken up by the large melons, marrows and pumpkins, the watermelon and pumpkin cut open to display the interior, the marrows, long and twisting, seeming to wish to escape the two-dimensional space of the picture plane.
While at one level the painting is a bravura study of texture and form and light, the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
symbology of fruit and vegetables was rich and intricate, and given this fact and the fact that so many of Caravaggio's apparently simple paintings, such as Boy Bitten by a Lizard
Boy Bitten by a Lizard (Caravaggio)
Boy Bitten by a Lizard is a painting by the Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio. It exists in two versions, both believed to be authentic, one in the Fondazione Roberto Longhi in Florence, the other in the National Gallery, London...
, in fact carry coded messages, it is not unlikely that the Still Life with Fruit is equally complex. Nevertheless, no plausible reading has so far been advanced, although several commentators have noted the visual suggestiveness of the moistly cut fruits and melons and the writhing, thrusting marrows.
It was first recorded in the collection of Cardinal Antonio Barberini
Antonio Barberini
Antonio Barberini was an Italian Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Reims, military leader, patron of the arts and a prominent member of the House of Barberini. As one of the cardinal-nephews of Pope Urban VIII and a supporter of France, he played a significant role at a number of the papal...
in 1671 , as being "in the hand" of the artist; how it came to be there (and this is the first recorded mention of its existence) is open to speculation, but Barberini is known to have bought up part of the collection of Cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
Francesco Maria Del Monte
Francesco Maria Del Monte
Francesco Maria Del Monte, full name Francesco Maria Bourbon Del Monte Santa Maria, was an Italian Cardinal, diplomat and connoisseur of the arts...
, Caravaggio's first patron, when the cardinal died in 1627 . It may therefore have been a private work for Del Monte.
Another possibility is that in 1644 Cardinal Antonio Barberini inherited the Still Life with Fruit from his uncle, Pope Urban VIII, who was the greatest patron of the Roman Baroque and an avid art collector. It is documented that in 1603, while he was still a cardinal, Urban VIII acquired a number of paintings directly from Caravaggio. The Still Life with Fruit could easily have been one of these. It shares the same dimensions and the same palette as the Sacrifice of Isaac now at the Uffizi, which is known to have been part of this group and which dates from the same period in Caravaggio's career.
Caravaggio has justly been credited as the father of Roman still-life painting, a genre which was in its infancy in the early 17th century. Although Caravaggio very frequently included still-life elements in his works, only two independent still lifes from his hand have been identified to date. These are the Still Life with Fruit and the Basket of Fruit at the Ambrosiana in Milan. Because of both the extraordinary virtuosity of its execution and the complexity of meaning suggested by its composition, scholars have referred to the Still Life with Fruit as a "capital picture for the artist" and a "masterpiece of still life."
See also
- Chronology of works by CaravaggioChronology of works by CaravaggioThe following is a list of paintings by the Italian artist Caravaggio, listed chronologically.-List of paintings:-Further reading:* Roberto Longhi, Caravaggio. Dresden, 1968....
- The Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio)Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio)The Sacrifice of Isaac is the title of two paintings by the Italian master Caravaggio .- Princeton version :The Sacrifice of Isaac in the Piasecka-Johnson Collection in Princeton, New Jersey, is a disputed work that was painted circa 1603...