Artwork
Bodegón con peros queso pan y recipientes
Bodegón con peros queso pan y recipientes is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Luis Egidio Meléndez. It dates from 1750 and is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Luis Egidio Meléndez's Bodegón con peros queso pan y recipientes is a still life painting that depicts an arrangement of everyday domestic items.
Luis Egidio Meléndez's Bodegón con peros queso pan y recipientes is a still life painting that depicts an arrangement of everyday domestic items. The composition features bread, a bowl, cheese, and various containers, reflecting the artist's focus on humble, tangible objects rather than allegorical or mythological themes. Created around 1750, the work exemplifies the Spanish bodegón tradition, where ordinary kitchenware and foodstuffs are rendered with precise observation and naturalistic detail.
The inclusion of basic sustenance like bread and cheese alongside simple vessels suggests a celebration of daily life and material reality, characteristic of Meléndez's approach to the genre.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in oil paint on a canvas support, following the conventional materials of mid-eighteenth-century Spanish still-life practice. Handling is characterized by carefully observed modeling and a restrained palette, with attention to the tactile qualities of bread crusts, cheese rinds, and metallic vessels. The composition arranges objects in shallow space, aligning them parallel to the picture plane to emphasize their volumetric solidity and surface textures.
The still-life genre’s formal conventions are evident in the balanced arrangement and subdued lighting, which isolates each element while sustaining overall cohesion.
History & Provenance
The still life was painted by Luis Egidio Meléndez between 1750 and 1751. It entered the royal collection under Ferdinand VII of Spain, whose ownership is documented in the work’s Wikidata entry. By the late eighteenth century the painting was held within the Spanish royal holdings, which later formed part of the collections transferred to the Museo del Prado.
The picture remains in the Museo del Prado’s holdings at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, where it is currently located.
Overview
Luis Egidio Meléndez’s Bodegón con peros queso pan y recipientes is an oil painting executed circa 1750. The work presents a modest still‑life arranged on a wooden tabletop, featuring a large brown jug, a small white bowl, a woven basket, and assorted pieces of bread, cheese and fruit. The composition is anchored in a quiet domestic setting, emphasizing the ordinary objects of everyday Spanish life.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Luis Egidio Meléndez (1716–1780) was a Spanish painter. Though he received little acclaim during his lifetime and died in poverty, Meléndez is recognized as one of the greatest Spanish still-life painters of the 18th…
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