Late 17th Century Still-life Paintings

This splendid late 17th-century Italian still life depicts a vibrant arrangement of flora set within a basket, with fruit alongside. It’s similar to works by Italian artist Giuseppe ...

This fabulous late-17th-century Flemish still life depicts a plethora of fruit, basket of flowers, cat, dog, cushion and juices. Produced in around 1690, bounteous still lifes of this nature served a dual purpose. Firstly, they demonstrated the owner’s abundant wealth via the display of exotic imported wares and secondly, they conveyed a deeper meaning via hidden symbolic references. There’s a remarkable selection of fruit on display here including red berries, pears, grapes, apples, peaches, a pomegranate, and a cantaloupe melon. While in the top left, several glass bottles stand within a terracotta bowl, partially filled with colourful liquid. It’s rare to find such an inclusion in still lifes from the period - perhaps they contain juices. Adjacent to the bottles, a small pampered dog, probably a spaniel, is barking at a surprised tabby cat emerging from the shadows. Both appear to be arguing over the cantaloupe. This is likely to be an allegorical reference alluding to the perils of courtship. The artist is unknown but it’s likely they originated from the provinces and derived influence from the painters of Antwerp, such as Clara Peeters...

This beautiful late 17th-century Flemish still life depicts a sumptuous bouquet of flowers including roses, chrysanthemums and possibly a hydrangea or ‘snowball’ in a vase with putto...

Circle of Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (Lille 1636-London 1699). Flower basket on stone slab. Oil on canvas, late 17th century. The dark background and bare table highlight the explosion o...

Still life with macaw, squirrel and dwarf spaniels Attributed to Reynaud LEVIEUX (Nîmes, 1613 – Rome, 1690) 17th century French School Oil on canvas, dimensions: h. 67 cm, l. 87 cm (26.38 in. x 34.25 in) Magnificent Louis XIV period giltwood frame, early 18th century Dimensions with frame: h. 95 cm, l. 115 cm (37.40 in. x 45.27 in) Like a magic trick, the illusionist power of our painter reveals to us a baroque world where in a theatrical setting, the southern light exalts the colors and materials. In the opulence and extravagance of this exhibition, the tight framing propels forward the earthly beauties against a luxurious background of precious dyes created by the hand of man. The tray laden with fruit is placed on an entablature covered with a sumptuous Persian carpet in shimmering colors. Offering figs, bunches of grapes, apples and burst pomegranate, it transports us to the south of France. A Macaw with red feathers seem to watch over the contents and courageously confront two small toy spaniels installed on a luxurious red velvet cushion generously embroidered with gold threads and decorated with pompoms. Captivated by this tense atmosphere, we barely see another intruder: a squirrel quietly nibbling a bunch of grapes. On the left in the foreground our eye is immediately drawn to two melons, one of which is half-open and ripe. The realistic rendering of his skin with its bumpy texture awakens our sense of touch, it seems that this rough surface created thanks to generous serifs can break the canvas, like a fruit ready to burst. Scattered warm lighting creating chiaroscuro betrays the Italian influence. This is how fruits and animals emerge from the darkness with aesthetic force and a three-dimensional appearance. Our work is a variant of the lost composition of Reynaud Levieux known through replicas and its publication in the catalog of Jean Wytenhove Reynaud Levieux and classical painting in Provence (Aix-en-Provence, 1990, p. 58, repr.), our painting wonderfully illustrates the fame of this composition in its time. Related works by Reynaud Levieux: • Still life – fruit, parrot, dogs and squirrel, Villa Vauban, Luxembourg City Art Museum, oil on canvas, sizes unknown. • Parrot confronting two spaniels on a trimmings cushion, oil on canvas, 76.2 x 96 cm, Christie's Paris, 12/19/2007, lot 489 • Still life with spaniel, oil on canvas, 75 x 90 cm, Inv .: L.83.2, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Marseille Reynaud Levieux, known above all for his religious production imbued with an austere classicism inherited from Raphael and Correggio, his model painters, produced during his long career subtle still lifes intended for a clientele of amateurs and the ornamentation of private mansions. This aspect of his production is less known today, and is an essential milestone for better understanding the talent he displays in this genre. As evidenced by his paintings, the painter was greatly influenced by the Italian master of the Roman Baroque still life Franceso Noletti or Fieravino active in Rome between 1636 and 1654, the period of Reynaud Levieux's first stay in Rome. This period corresponds to a turning point in the art of Italian still life. The first Italian still lifes, around 1600, are meticulous and precise, often with symbolic meanings, linked to religion, the vanity of earthly foods, and the transience of life. A few decades later, Italian still life adopted the baroque style, which suited it wonderfully: it always sought illusion, the faithful rendering of materials, but in abundance, heaps and luxury. Having become a decorative object, it gains in virtuosity and ease what it loses in spirituality. Reynaud LEVIEUX (Nîmes, 1613 – Rome, 1690) Son of a glass painter, Protestant from Uzès, settled around 1612 in Nîmes, Reynaud Levieux was born on January 6, 1613. After initial training in his father's workshop, of whom he will always keep the taste for smooth, contrasting painting and impeccable technique, he left for Rome in 1635. He was part of a team of six painters with Pierre Mignard, Jean le Maire, Charles Errard, Jean Nocret and Nicolas Chaperon. Under the direction of Nicolas Poussin, he copied Raphaël - two painters who would have a profound impact on him. His paintings from this period are not all known and we are beginning to discover them, sometimes hidden under illustrious names, such as Theseus discovering his father's arms which was attributed to Laurent de La Hyre...

This exquisite floral still life, likely created in the late 17th century, is attributed to a follower of Daniel Seghers. The painting showcases a vivid...

Still life of oyster upon a pewter dish, grapes, lemon and peaches. The painting belongs to the tradition of still life painting in Antwerp. Late XVII- early XVIII century. Oil on ...

Olio su tela. La scena, piuttosto scura è ambientata in un rustico interno di cucina, con paioli di rame appoggiati su un tavolo insieme a due pesci e ad alcune verdure. Il dipinto ...

Nicola Malinconico (Naples 1663 - Naples 1726) - Still life with animals, satyr and original sin scene in the background. 47 x 59 cm without frame, 75 x 87 cm with frame. Antique o...

Oil painting on canvas. Roman school of the seventeenth-eighteenth century. A bunch of flowers, variegated in type and colors and overflowing on the floor below, fills an important g...

Oil painting on canvas. Neapolitan school of the seventeenth-eighteenth century. The large composition is rich in different elements: in the upper half a bowl full of flowers (roses,...

Painting oil on canvas measuring 45 x 65 cm without frame and 66 x 86 cm with a Venetian school frame from the second half of the 17th century. This basket of flowers, departed fro...