Still life in a landscape with fruit and game

Still life in a landscape with fruit and game
attributable to Giovanni Paolo Castelli, known as Spadino (Rome, 1659 – 1730)

oil on canvas, 62 x 76 cm., framed 90 x 109 cm.
Short video of the work: https://youtu.be/3sYC5rgpsg0

Complete details of the work: https://www.antichitacastelbarco.it/it/prodotti/natura-morta-in-un-paesaggio-con-frutta-e-selvaggina

An open air setting, with a hilly landscape opening into the distance in the central part, surrounds our beautiful canvas, which showcases a rich selection of game and fruit, arranged in the foreground close to the point of view of the observer, occupying a large part of the visual field with their bright and festive colors.
The style and quality of the work, like the pictorial technique of this still life, characterized by subtle luminous vibrations and lively chroma, make it attributable to the Roman Giovanni Paolo Castelli, known as Lo Spadino (Rome, 1659 – 1730), a of the most important specialists of this pictorial genre of late Baroque Rome, who had a very successful career between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries.
By analyzing the rich and heterogeneous catalog of the Roman master, in fact, our canvas can be included among his rare works which, alongside a selection of fruit - among which large melons, ripe figs, dark grapes and plums stand out – we see an advertisement for game, presumably as per the request of a hunting-loving client. Alongside various birds, the spoils of a profitable hunting trip, there is also a small green woodpecker, with the characteristic red spot on its head, and a friendly rodent peeking out from behind the trunk.
The painter abandons himself to a skilful and brilliant chromatic texture of the surfaces, through a pictorial material rendered with exceptional vibration in its luminous and 'tactile' body, fully respecting the taste of the full Roman Baroque.
The Flemish suggestions, which had influenced the Roman Baroque still life, in particular the work of Abraham Brueghel, were inevitable and evident.
Giovanni Paolo Castelli could boast a family workshop (in which his brother and son worked) long appreciated in Rome in the second half of the seventeenth century, specialized in the genre of still life, which allowed him to quickly achieve considerable fame, working for the most important Roman families, such as the Chigi, Cardinal Pamphili who owned eleven Spadinos, the Spadas and the Rospigliosi.
For comparison, among the works similar to ours, similar in terms of scenic and stylistic organization, we can mention:
– Still life with melon, peaches, grapes, game, guinea pig and chickens, Sotheby's, New York, 17 January 1992, and now Private collection, Mantua, http://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/90622/ Castelli%20Giovanni%20Paolo%2C%20Natura%2..- Still life with pomegranates, peaches, plums and birds (Private collection, Gardone Riviera) http://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda.v2.jsp?tipo_scheda =OA&id=90633&titolo=Castell…
– Still life with fruit and parrot, “Domenico Inzaghi” Civic Art Gallery, Budrio
– Still life with fruit, mushrooms and bird, Antiques Market, Verona
– Still life with watermelon, peaches, grapes and pomegranate, “Fortunato Duranti” Civic Art Gallery, Montefortino
– Still life with melon, watermelon, peaches, grapes, figs and pomegranate, Private Collection (http://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/89763/Castelli%20Giovanni%20Paolo%2C%20Natura%2…) - Still life with fruit, jug and bird, Palazzo Blu, CariPisa Foundation collection, Pisa

The painting is completed by a pleasant antique frame that suits it well and is sold with a certificate of authenticity in accordance with the law.

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