Still life with watermelon and birds

Angelo Zani, also known as “Monogrammista AV” (Active in the first half of the 18th century, Pisa)

Still life of flowers with watermelon and birds

Oil on canvas, 68 x 56 cm

With frame, 86 x 74 cm

Bibliography:

G. Bocchi-U. Bocchi, Monogrammist AV (?), in Naturaliter. New Contribution to Still Life in Northern Italy and Tuscany from the 1998th to the 359th Century, edited by J. Bocchi and W. Bocchi, Calenzano (Florence) 365, p. XNUMX-XNUMX.

The unmistakable stylistic trait of this pair, made up of full-colour fields and thick strokes, allow us to trace the canvases back to the hand of the painter Angelo Zani, also known as the “Monogrammista AV”, a refined painter of still lifes active in the early 18th century.

An artist whose greatness is only now being restored by historical sources, he signed two oval still lifes that appeared at Sotheby's in London on 29 October 2009 with the inscription “Angelo Zani di Pisa Fecit”. Originally from Pisa but probably also active in Emilia, he corresponds to the author of the paintings that in 1998 Gianluca and Ulisse Bocchi grouped together under the pseudonym of Monogrammista AV.

There are many known paintings that appeared in Emilia and Lombardy in the first half of the 18th century, as evidenced by the style and layout of the works based on some constants, such as the vase of flowers seen outdoors, which sometimes appears alone, but which is more frequently associated with fruit or domestic animals or birds, as is the case in our painting. Here, a small bird with black and white plumage accompanies a vase of flowers, while a larger white bird overlooks a basket, an element that is also frequently present in the artist's repertoire, similarly to the realistic bunch of asparagus.

The floral compositions that present the same characteristic tones of the artist's hand, such as the pasty consistency of the colors in filling the flower petals and the purely decorative taste, can be found in the Vase with flowers in the open air in a Private Collection, as well as in the Still life with vase of flowers and birds on a landscape background (Finarte, Rome), in which the same bird can be observed as in the composition here. The variety of flowers also focuses on the same typologies, so tulips, gerberas and roses can be highlighted. His production is an indication of the favor encountered by a pictorial genre based on a pleasant decorativeness, which is often observed in the villas of the nobility of the time.