Roman School Artist, Still Life with Flowers, 1620, Oil on Canvas, Framed

Details

Description

Master of the Grotesque Vase
(active in Rome and Naples in the first quarter of the 17th century)
Still Life … Read more Master of the Grotesque Vase
(active in Rome and Naples in the first quarter of the 17th century)
Still Life of Flowers in a Classical Vase

Oil on canvas
66 x 51 cm
Framed 82 x 68 cm

Full artwork details: https://www.antichitacastelbarco.it/it/prodotto/natura-morta-con-vaso-classico-a-grottesche

In this sumptuous still life, we see a precious classical vase in partially gilded and embossed metal, enlivened by two protruding harpies serving as handles, holding a precious floral bouquet. Next to the vase, placed on a stone shelf, are two small birds arranged symmetrically facing each other.

The elaborate work, as much the protagonist as the floral varieties it contains, has a whimsical and bizarre shape, inspired by the features of a still late Mannerist style. All of this evokes the magnificent vase studies executed by Polidoro da Caravaggio between the 16th and 17th centuries.

The shape and decoration of our vase reflect a model widespread in the 17th century, which art historians have grouped under the name "Masters of the Grotesque Vases." This name encompasses a variety of artists, likely active in various parts of Central Italy, primarily Rome and Naples, but also in the North, over a period spanning the 17th century. These paintings, with a rather archaic approach, are very diverse in style and quality, depicting bouquets of flowers in "antique" vases.

In particular, the painting offered here can be placed within the Neapolitan context due to its stylistic and compositional characteristics, with strong similarities to the painter Giacomo Recco (Naples 1603 – before 1653), within the context of his mature production, therefore around the mid-17th century.
For example, see: Recco Giacomo, Still Life with a Vase of Flowers (http://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/entry/work/90812/Recco%20Giacomo%2C%20Natura%20morta%20con%2\.)

Common features of these works include the use of Mannerist-style embossed and chiseled metal vases with figural handles and a richly decorated central body, and the supporting surfaces consisting of a simple, isolated, squared stone parallelepiped in the center of the pictorial field. Other common features include the archaic, schematic, and sometimes symmetrical arrangement of the bouquet of flowers, and above all the weak, naturalistic rendering of the plants, which often appear as rigid silhouettes cut out and applied to the canvas.

The painting is in excellent condition, perfectly restored, and accompanied by a beautiful gilded frame.

This work, like all our items, is sold with a legally required photographic certificate of authenticity.

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official proof of authenticity,
however it is well documented in design history. I take full responsibility for any authenticity



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