Still life with citrons, fish and
stoneware pitcher on an entablature
Canvas
Carved and gilded wooden frame with pomegranate motifs, Italian work from the XNUMXth century
Cropped frame
62x76 inch
Born into a family of still life painters, Giuseppe Recco's notoriety eclipsed that of his father Giacomo and his uncle Giovan Battista who had trained him.
He was also a pupil of Paolo Porpora. He renewed the genre by diversifying the subjects represented: kitchen interiors, still life of fish, flowers. While keeping a strong naturalism of Caravaggesque origin, he introduced luminous vibrations making the texture of various materials palpable. These effects are achieved through a
oilier and thicker paste in places and a “dotillis” technique (here on the citron, for example), reflections that catch the light.
We still admire today the modern sobriety of his compositions, the juxtaposition of rustic pieces and other rarer pieces, his rendering of the metal pieces (the copper basin), the wet appearance of the sea bream scales, all these elements
being gathered on our web. Note also the conical salt bread on the left.
Cooking fish in a salt crust was common at that time throughout the Mediterranean.
The very high quality of this canvas is comparable to the pair of still lifes formerly in the Marmo collection in Naples, or to another pair from the Molinari Pradelli foundation (Marano di astesano), circa 1655-1660. Thereafter, Recco will evolve towards more baroque arrangements.
The attribution to Giuseppe Recco was confirmed by Professor Nicola Spinosa, by email, on January 31, 2022
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