Scuola Napoletana (XVII) - Natura morta con limoni e uccellino

Neapolitan School, sphere of Giovanni Battista Ruoppolo (Naples, 1629 – 1697)
Still life with lemons and bird
Oil on canvas, 62 x 83 cm

The still life in question depicts juicy citrus fruits, among which oranges and citrons can be recognized, together with red berries scattered on the ground. A cheerful little bird sits on the edge of a terracotta vase in which some pink-flecked carnations grow. The landscape that can be observed all around is veiled by clouds and shaded by shrubs, while in the distance there is a green hill. Dominating the foreground and standing out from the dark background is the fruit which, lush and juicy, stands out in the liveliness of the colors in contrast with the dark background. The full-bodied brushstroke that generously outlines the wrinkled peel of the citrus fruits to restore the realism of the fruit, just as the green leaves of the stems softly folded on themselves are outlined with extreme truthfulness, ascribe the work to a painter working in the circle of John the Baptist Ruoppolo. Ruoppolo is a Neapolitan artist, specialized in the genre of still life, indeed De Dominici himself in his Lives of Neapolitan painters, sculptors and architects recognizes him as having a primary role in the Neapolitan school of the genre. He studied, together with Giuseppe Recco (1634 -?) , in the workshop of Paolo Porpora (1617 – 1673) . He painted almost exclusively fruit and flower paintings. As a consequence of his relationship with the merchant Gasparo Romer, his works also met with considerable success abroad, particularly in Flanders, purchased, and consequently disseminated, by the Neapolitan patricians and aristocrats stationed there for business. His elegant style does not seek calligraphy or minute decorative taste but a refined and direct sense of reality, of Caravaggio ancestry. This ancestry is associated with its vibrant, lively and varied choice of colours, capable of lighting up the composition, also characterized by a profound and analytical search for detail.
For a detailed comparison with the work, see the Still life with citrus fruits, orange blossoms and parrot and Fruit and vegetables in a landscape presented on the market and of similar composition.

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