Still life of flowers and mushrooms

Title: Still life of flowers and mushrooms Technique: Oil on canvas Period: 17th century (Seicento) Measurements: 67 x 107 cm Frame: Authentic in gilded wood This extraordinary 17th-century still life depicts a rich composition of flowers and mushrooms, arranged with harmonious mastery against a dark and compact background that enhances their chromatism and three-dimensionality. The work stands out for its meticulous attention to detail and the skillful use of light, which refracts on the pictorial matter, enhancing the shapes and richness of the botanical essences represented. The flowers, colorful and lush, are arranged in a seemingly random but perfectly balanced way: open roses, daisies, and other field species can be recognized, each defined with precision in the petals and shadows. The mushrooms, positioned in the lower and right areas of the composition, add an unusual but extremely interesting element to the scene, giving the work a curious character, departing from the usual floral repertoire. The chromatic palette is dominated by warm tones, with deep reds, golden yellows, and soft whites, which stand out strongly against the brown background. The use of oil on canvas, typical of Baroque painting, gives the surface a velvety and intense luminosity, creating chiaroscuro effects of great depth. The original gilded wooden frame, contemporary to the work, enriches the painting with its lively and vigorous profile. The gilding, still in excellent condition, shows slight signs of aging that testify to the authenticity and long history of the artifact, enhancing the elegance of the work as a whole. This still life represents a perfect example of 17th-century northern Italian or Flemish painting, in which the taste for naturalistic detail is combined with a strong symbolism: flowers and mushrooms allude to the transient beauty of life, the fragility, and the charm of nature captured in its most ephemeral moment. It is a work of great charm and pictorial quality, ideal for collectors and lovers of ancient art, capable of conferring refinement and historical depth to any environment.