Trompe l'Oeil Paintings, Early 18th Century, Oil on Canvas, Set of 2

Details

Description

A pair of companion still lifes from the mid-1700s.

Still life with bucchero pottery, recorder, fruit, flowers, porcelain, biscuits, and … Read more A pair of companion still lifes from the mid-1700s.

Still life with bucchero pottery, recorder, fruit, flowers, porcelain, biscuits, and hanging papers.

Still life with mandola, books, fruit, kitchen knife, oval basket, and hanging papers.

The companion piece depicts two tables set in an interior against a wooden wall. Both tables, one square and one hexagonal, feature seemingly chaotic compositions of objects, yet together they form an orderly pyramidal geometry. This pyramidal geometry is in turn traversed by a diagonal beam of light that clearly distinguishes the light on the left from the shadows on the right.

On the square table, we find food and household objects such as biscuits of various shapes, scattered fruit, a bowl, and small oriental porcelain cups arranged in different positions. These are interspersed with objects of luxury, such as the recorder broken into three pieces, the musical score, the vase of cut flowers, and the bucchero vase. On the larch-panelled walls hang papers and an oval frame.

On the hexagonal table, we see a twelve-string mandola, two lemons, one cut in half, plums and cherries, some scattered and some contained in a wicker basket with a handle, three parchment-bound books (one of which is precariously balanced on the edge of the table), a kitchen knife, and a decorated oval basket. On the larch-panelled wall, hanging from nails, we see a bunch of keys, some lunettes, and two sheets of paper, one with a folded corner and a figure drawn in red chalk.

Both paintings use a high-angle perspective to better depict the set tables, and both feature the same sharp, diagonal cut of light that helps enhance the depiction of the objects. Regardless of the musical instruments, these are all household objects, creating a synthesis between the kitchen still lifes (tableware and food), the desk/study still lifes (books and notes), and the naturalistic still lifes (vase of flowers).

This fusion also includes elements of deceptive painting (the glasses that invite careful observation, and the keys that mark the boundary between the world of reality and that of illusion).


Bibliography:

Francesca Baldassari, Cristoforo Munari, Milan 1988;

Alberto Veca, Inganno e realtà, Bergamo 1980;

Various Authors, La natura morta in Italia, Milan 1989.

The paintings were selected from a private collection in Milan and were in good condition, with old lining and modern frames. We performed a light cleaning and made minor pictorial retouching where necessary. See less