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Melons, apples, pears, and other fruits, along with a glass vessel and chestnuts, are arranged along a tabletop covered by a white cloth in this horizontal still life painting. The left edge of the table is close to that edge of the canvas, and the table extends off the right edge. Starting at the left, the melon near the edge of the table has a forest-green rind with coral-colored flesh. Just behind it, to our right, the spherical glass vessel is about half filled with amber liquid. Next to the melon and in front of the vessel is a dark-skinned fig and a cluster of three red berries. At the center of the composition, a pewter plate holds three yellow and red apples and a fourth piece of fruit, perhaps a pear or apple, cut in half. There are also several green grapes, a pomegranate split open to expose the ruby-red seeds, and two more black-skinned figs cut so the rose-pink flesh shows. A bunch of dark purple grapes and a green leaf spill out of the right side onto the table. A wedge of pink watermelon with black seeds sits on the far right toward the back of the table. A yellow and pink pear stands near the front of the table to our right, and a handful of chestnuts is scattered between the pear and watermelon. Two tiny insects, like small flies, sit on the tablecloth, one near the melon to our left and the other on the front of the tablecloth near the lower center. Bright light from the upper left glints off the carafe, the edge of the plate, and the seeds of the pomegranate and watermelon, and it creates deep shadows around the fruit. The background lightens from earth brown along the top to sable brown near the table to our right.

Pensionante del Saraceni

Still Life with Fruit and Carafe, c. 1610/1620

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 34

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 50.4 x 71.6 cm (19 13/16 x 28 3/16 in.)

framed: 71.1 x 92.1 x 5.4 cm (28 x 36 1/4 x 2 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Samuel H. Kress Collection

Accession Number

1939.1.159

Artists / Makers

Pensionante del Saraceni (painter) French (?), active c. 1610/1620

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Provenance

Fejer de Buck, Rome, possibly by 1929.[1] (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, Rome and Florence); purchased 1935 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[2] gift 1939 to NGA.

[1] According to National Gallery of Art, Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture, Washington, D.C., 1941: 32. Roberto Longhi, "Quesiti Caravaggeschi", Pinacotheca I (1929): fig. 17, published the painting as in a Roman private collection. No information has been located about Fejer de Buck, from whom Contini Bonacossi acquired two other paintings later sold to Kress (K534, now North Carolina Museum of Art and K197, now Berea College).

[2] According to Fern Rusk Shapley, Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools XVI-SVIII Century, London, 1973: 65, and Fern Rusk Shapley, Catalogue of Italian Paintings, 2 vols., Washington, D.C., 1979: 1:112; the expert opinions on the backs of photographs from the Kress Files, NGA curatorial files, are dated 1935. See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2016.

Associated Names

Buck, Fejer de
Contini Bonacossi, Alessandro, Count
Kress Foundation, Samuel H.

Exhibition History

1938: The Painters of Still Life, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, 1938, no. 3, repro., as by Caravaggio.

1939: Masterpieces of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture from 1300-1800, New York World's Fair, 1939, no. 34; Official Guide and Picture Book, no. 66, repro., as by Caravaggio.

1982: France in the Golden Age: Seventeenth-Century French Paintings in American Collections, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; The Metropolitan Mus. of Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago, 1982, no. 81, repro., as by Pensionante del Sarceni.

1983: Italian Still Life Paintings from Three Centuries, National Academy of Design, New York; Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa; Dayton Art Institute, 1983, no. 11, color repro., as by Pensionante del Saraceni (cat. by John Spike).

1985: The Age of Caravaggio, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples, 1985, no. 48, repro., as by Pensionante del Saraceni.

1988: The Grand Tour: The Tradition of Patronage in Southern Art Museums, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Alabama, 1988-1989, no. 62, color repro., as by Pensionante del Saraceni.

1995: La natura morta al tempo di Caravaggio, Musei Capitolini, Rome; Fondazione "Arte e Civiltà", Milan, 1995-1996, no. 46, repro.

2001: The Genius of Rome 1592-1623, Royal Academy of Arts, London; Museo del Palazzo di Venezia, Rome, 2001, no. 20, repro.

2013: Carlo Saraceni, 1579-1620: un veneziano tra Roma e l'Europa, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice; Palazzo di Venezia, Rome, 2013-2014, no. 84, repro. (shown only in Rome).

2016: L'Origine della Natura Morta in Italie: Caravaggio e il Maestro di Hartford [The Birth of the Still Life in Italy...], Museo Galleria di Villa Borghese, Rome, 2016-2017, no. 18, repro.

Technical Summary

The support is a plain-weave fabric with an uneven, open weave. The ground is a thin white or off-white layer. It was applied with a tool that produced thin diagonal strokes visible in the upper-left portion of the background. The paint was applied as a medium paste and the brushstrokes are evident only in the whites and in the watermelon, all other areas having been thinly applied. Areas of paint abut one another rather than overlap, as in the foreground pear: the ground around this fruit shows through as a thin outline. At the left side, however, the cloth appears to have been completed before the fruit was painted over it. Examination of x-radiographs shows reserves for all of the fruit except the cherries in the left foreground, indicating that the cloth was painted first only in the area of the cherries.

Pronounced cusping is visible on all four sides and extends to the center of the fabric; the tacking margins have been removed. Abrasion has exposed the fabric in some areas, particularly in the foreground. There is a small repaired tear in the watermelon and small losses scattered throughout. The painting was relined, discolored varnish was removed, and the painting was restored by Stephen Pichetto about 1935. The most recent treatment was carried out by Sarah Fisher, who removed discolored varnish and restored the painting in 1982.

Bibliography

1929: Longhi, Roberto. "Quesiti Caravaggeschi." Pinacotheca I (1929): 274, fig. 17, as by Caravaggio.

1941: Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 32, no. 270, as Still Life by Caravaggio.

1942: Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 245, repro. 79, as Still Life by Caravaggio.

1943: Longhi, Roberto. "Ultimi studi sul Caravaggio e la sua cerchia." Proporzioni 1 (1943): 8, 23, 24, fig. 4, as by Caravaggio.

1944: Frankfurter, Alfred M. The Kress Collection in the National Gallery. New York, 1944: 58, repro., as by Caravaggio.

1950: Longhi, Roberto. "Un momento importante nella storia della 'natura morte." Paragone 1 (1950): 34-39, as by Caravaggio.

1951: Berenson, Bernard. Del Caravaggio: Delle sue incongruenze e della sua fama. Milan, 1951: 9, 56, pl. 3, as by Caravaggio.

1952: Longhi, Roberto. Il Caravaggio. Milan, 1952: 24, fig. 11, as by Caravaggio.

1952: Sterling, Charles. La nature morte de l'antiquité à nos jours. Paris, 1952: 88, 53, pl. 54 (exh. cat., as by Caravaggio; book, as by faithful follower of Caravaggio; omitted from later editions).

1953: Friedlaender, Walter. Review of Lionello Venturi, Caravaggio, and Roberto Longhi, Il Caravaggio, The Art Bulletin 35 (1953): 317 (rejects attribution to Caravaggio).

1954: Baumgart, Fritz. "Die Caravaggio-Forschung seit 1943." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 17 (1954): 196, 201, n. 28.

1954: Swarzenski, Hanns. "Caravaggio and Still Life Painting. Notes on a Recent Acquisition." Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 52 (1954): 37, as by Caravaggio.

1957: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 125, as Still Life by Michelangelo Caravaggio.

1958: Wagner, Hugo. Michelandelo da Caravaggio. Bern, 1958: 227, as by Follower of Caravaggio.

1959: Berne-Joffroy, André. Le dossier caravage. Paris, 1959: 217, 254, 265, 291, 342, 360, fig. 117, as by Caravaggio.

1959: Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 217, repro., as Still Life by Michelangelo Caravaggio.

1960: Golzio, Vincenzo. Il seicento e il settecento. 2 vols. 2nd ed. Turin, 1960: 1:106, as possibly by Caravaggio.

1961: Julian, René. Le Caravage. Lyon, 1961: 48, pl. 37, fig. 1, as possibly by Pensionante del Saraceni.

1961: Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 114, color repro. pl. 108.

1962: Baroni, Constantino. All the Paintings of Caravaggio. New York, 1962: 28, as attributed to Caravaggio.

1962: De Logu, Giuseppe. La natura morta italiana. Bergamo, 1962: 108 (doubts attribution to Caravaggio).

1963: Marabottini Marabotti, Alessandro. "Il 'naturalismo' di Pietro Paolino." In Scritti in onore di Mario Salmi. Vol. 3. Rome, 1963: 3:312, as by unknown Caravaggesque.

1963: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 309, repro., as Still Life by Michelangelo Caravaggio.

1964: De Logu, Giuseppe. Caravaggio. New York, 1964: 149 (doubts attribution to Caravaggio).

1965: Moir, Alfred. In Art in Italy, 1600-1700. Exh. cat. Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, 1965: 28.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 23, as Still Life by Caravaggio.

1966: Causa, Raffaello. Caravaggio. (I Maestri del Colore 55). Milan, 1966: no. 7, as by Caravaggio.

1967: Moir, Alfred. The Italian Followers of Caravaggio. 2 vols. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1967: 1:27, 2:62, no. 18, fig. 23, as by Follower of Caravaggio.

1967: Ottino della Chiesa, Angela. L'opera completa del Caravaggio. Milan, 1967: 91, no. 32, repro., as by Caravaggio, with reservations.

1968: Longhi, Roberto. Caravaggio. Rome, 1968: 14-15, color pl. 19, as by Caravaggio.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 16, repro., as Still Life by Caravaggio.

1968: Ottani Cavina, Anna. Carlo Saraceni. Milan, 1968: 68, n. 48.

1969: Kitson, Michael. The Complete Paintings of Caravaggio. London, 1969: 89, no. 20, repro., as anonymous Caravaggesque.

1970: Nicolson, Benedict. "The Art of Carlo Saraceni." Review of Anna Ottani Cavina, Carlo Saraceni. The Burlington Magazine 112 (1970): 315, tentatively attributed to Pensionante del Saraceni.

1970: Salerno, Luigi. "Caravaggio e i caravaggeschi." Storia dell'Arte 7/8 (1970): 236 (rejects attribution to Caravaggio).

1971: Cinotti, Mia. In Il Caravaggio e le sue grandi opere da San Luigi dei Francesi. Edited by Gian Alberto Dell'Acqua. Milan, 1971: 183, n. 176 (rejects attribution to Caravaggio).

1971: Spear, Richard. Caravaggio and His Followers. Exh. cat. Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, 1971: 138, repro.

1972: Borea, Evelina. "Considerazioni sulla mostra 'Caravaggio e i suoi seguaci' a Cleveland." Bollettino d'Arte 57 (1972): 157-158 (expresses reservations about attribution to Pensionante del Saraceni).

1972: Causa, Raffaello. "La Natura Morte a Napoli nel sei e nel settecento." In Storia di Napoli. Naples, 1972: 1032-1033, as by southern student of Caravaggio.

1972: Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972: 136.

1972: Volpe, Carlo. "Annotazione sulla mostra caravaggesca di Cleveland." Paragone 263 (1972): 71-72.

1973: Gregori, Mina. "Notizie su Agostino Verrochi e un'ipotesi per Giovanni Battista Crescenzi." Paragone 275 (1973): 46.

1973: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XVI-XVIII Century. London, 1973: 65-66, fig. 121, as by Follower of Caravaggio, possibly Pensionante del Saraceni.

1973: Volpe, Carlo. "Una proposta per Giovanni Battista Crescenzi." Paragone 275 (1973): 29.

1974: Brejon de Lavergnée, Arnauld, and Jean-Pierre Cuzin. Valentin et les Caravagesques français. Exh. cat. Grand Palais, Paris, 1974: 77, 78, 80, 250 (French translation of I Caravaggeschi francesi. Exh. cat. Accademia di Francia,Villa Medici,Rome,1973).

1974: Marini, Maurizio. Io Michelangelo da Caravaggio. Rome, 1974: 469-470, no. R-13, repro.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 54, repro., as by Still Life by Caravaggio.

1975: Gregori, Mina. "Significato delle mostre caravaggesche dal 1951 a oggi." Paper read at the Convegno internazionale di studi caravaggeschi, Bergamo, 1974. Published in Novità sul Caravaggio: saggi e contributi. Milan, 1975: 30, n. 22.

1976: Moir, Alfred. Caravaggio and His Copyists. New York, 1976: 119, no. 109.

1977: Rosenberg, Pierre. Pittura francese nelle collezioni pubbliche fiorentine. Exh. cat. Palazzo Pitti, Florence, 1977: 153.

1978: Volpe, Carlo. "Mostre: 'Omaggio a Tiziano' e 'Pittura francses nelle collezioni pubbliche fiorentine'." Paragone 335 (1978): 94, pl. 95.

1979: Nicolson, Benedict. The International Caravaggesque Movement: Lists of Pictures by Caravaggio and His Followers throughout Europe from 1590-1650. Oxford, 1979: 78.

1979: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:112-114; 2:pl. 77, as Still Life, as by Follower of Caravaggio, possibly Pensionante del Saraceni.

1982: Cuzin, Jean-Pierre. Review of French Seventeenth-Century Paintings from American Collections. The Burlington Magazine 124 (1982): 529.

1982: Rosci, Marco. "La natura morta." In Storia dell'arte italiana. 13 vols. Turin, 1979-1983: 4:92, as Circle of Caravaggio.

1983: Veca, Alberto. Simposio. Cerimonie e Apparati / Symposium. Ceremony and Setting. Exh. cat. Galleria Lorenzelli, Bergamo, 1983: 229, 463, fig. 171.

1984: Ottani Cavina, Anna. "Per il Pensionante del Saraceni." In Scritti di storia dell'arte in onore di Federico Zeri. 2 vols. Milan, 1984: 2:610, 614, n. 8.

1984: Salerno, Luigi. La natura morta italiana 1560-1805/Still Life Painting in Italy. Rome, 1984: 68, fig. 17.3.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 74, repro., as Still Life by Follower of Caravaggio.

1987: Consigli Valente, Patrizia. Nature morte del seicento e del settecento. Parma, 1987: 27.

1989: Cottino, Alberto. "La natura morta caravaggesco a Roma." In La Natura Morta in Italia. Edited by Francesco Porzio. 2 vols. Milan, 1989: 2:687, 718, fig. 814.

1989: Nicolson, Benedict. Caravaggism in Europe. 2nd ed. of International Caravaggesque Movement. Revised and enlarged by Luisa Vertova. 3 vols. Turin, 1989: 1:155, no. 797; 2:pl. 797.

1989: Salerno, Luigi. Nuovi studi sulla natura morta italiana/New Studies on Italian Still Life Painting. Rome, 1989: 37 (doubts attribution to Pensionante del Saraceni).

1990: Papi, Gianni. "Un'apertura sul soggiorno italiano di Jacob van Oost il vecchio." Studi di storia dell'arte 1 (1990): 177-178, fig. 20, as by Flemish Caravaggesque painter, possibly Jacob van Oost the Elder.

1990: Romano, Giovanni. Pittura italiana del '600 e '700. Milan, 1990: 207.

1991: Cinotti, Mia. Caravaggio, la vita e l'opera. Bergamo, 1991: 229, no. 98, repro. (rejects attribution to Caravaggio).

1992: Spike, John. In Gianluca Bocchi and Ulisse Bocchi, eds. Naturalia. Nature morta in collezioni pubbliche e private. Exh. cat. Galleria d'Orlane, Casalmaggiore. Turin, 1992: 12, 20, fig. 2.

1996: De Grazia, Diane, and Eric Garberson, with Edgar Peters Bowron, Peter M. Lukehart, and Mitchell Merling. Italian Paintings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 199-205, color repro. 201.

2004: Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 154-155, no. 116, color repro.