Pair of still lifes, MARCANTONIO RIZZI

MARCANTONIO RIZZI
(Piacenza, 1648 – 1723)

Pair of still lifes

Oil on canvas, 57×72 cm

The extraordinary brilliance of the chromatic accords, lively and colourful, appears at first glance to be the primary element of this pair of still lifes, emphatically decorative and ornamental; in fact, our painter tends to develop rather traditional representations of fruits and, sometimes, flowers, in the direction of an almost "sensually" baroque sumptuousness, very rich in plastic and coloristic suggestions.
The singular volume of the fruits in the foreground, placed side by side in composition but more often almost "independent", is also aimed at directing the eye towards the second floor, literally dominated by looming, monumental bunches of grapes; note also the originality of the idea of ​​placing, in the first canvas, a sort of vine pergola, as well as the addition, in the second canvas, of a corollary of flowers, defined by the chromatic looseness, absolutely typical of our master in this scope.
The material body of the colour, enhanced by the effects of light, accentuates the tactile dimension of the vegetal elements, on the surface as well as in the plastic prominence, particularly striking in the virtuosic piece consisting of the definition of "humpy" elements in the individual fruits.