18th century, Still life with flowers and fruits

18th century Still life with flowers and fruits (4) Oil on oval canvas, 30 x 35 cm This series of four still lifes is presented separately in individual ovals but united in style, tones, and spatial configuration, with the flowers and fruits enclosed in the shape of the frame, following its curvilinear pattern. Although compressed within the oval, the figures open into space and are arranged in an orderly manner without sacrificing a certain spontaneous disorder that makes them even more realistic. The examples of the previous century in the field of still life, especially from Lombardy, are well present in these small canvases: from Giovanni Ambrogio Figino to Fede Galizia, passing through Panfilo Nuvolone and, going further back, Vincenzo Campi. While in three of the four canvases we find homogeneity in the type of flowers and fruits represented, namely cherries, peaches with a couple of plums and apricots together with flowers of different species but with white or blue colors, the first presents greater variety: two medlars in the center on which rest a pear, on the right, and a small bunch of grapes on the left; moreover, the flowers are also more varied, especially in the tones. Apart from these differences in the subjects, the four ovals show continuity and coherence in the warm and earthy tones, in the veiled pictorial execution that blurs the contours without, however, losing accuracy in the description of the details, which are so important in this genre. Finally, even the light seems to be dimmed, made faint so as not to create chiaroscuro contrasts capable of breaking that sense of unity present among all the elements of the compositions. The object is in good condition