Artwork
Still Life of Grapes and Peaches
Still Life of Grapes and Peaches is an oil painting by the Early Baroque Italian artist Panfilo Nuvolone. It dates from 1617 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Executed in 1617 by Panfilo Nuvolone, this oil painting on panel presents a still life composition focused exclusively on fruit.
Executed in 1617 by Panfilo Nuvolone, this oil painting on panel presents a still life composition focused exclusively on fruit. The visual subject matter is restricted to clusters of grapes and peaches, arranged as the sole elements within the frame. As a work of the still life genre, the piece functions as a direct representation of these specific agricultural products, highlighting their physical forms and textures through the artist's application of oil paint.
The available records identify the depicted objects simply as grapes and peaches without attaching further allegorical interpretations, religious symbolism, or specific narrative meanings to the arrangement. Consequently, the work stands primarily as a study of these particular fruits, capturing their natural appearance rather than serving as a vehicle for complex iconographic messages beyond the immediate depiction of the harvest.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in oil on a wooden panel, consistent with early-seventeenth-century Lombard practice. Handling is smooth and refined, with careful modeling of translucent grape skins and softly diffused light over the peaches’ downy surfaces. The composition balances tightly clustered grapes against the rounded forms of peaches, their contours softened to suggest ripeness.
Pigment application is thin in broad areas yet heightened with delicate glazes in highlights, particularly on the fruit’s reflective points. The still-life genre’s conventions, meticulous detail, subdued palette, and trompe-l’œil illusion, are rendered with technical precision, reflecting Nuvolone’s training in the Milanese tradition.
History & Provenance
Created in 1617, Still Life of Grapes and Peaches is an oil painting on panel by the Italian artist Panfilo Nuvolone. The work depicts a composition of fruit, specifically grapes and peaches, characteristic of the still life genre. While specific details regarding its original commission or early ownership history are not provided in the available records, the painting's inception is firmly established as 1617.
In the modern era, the artwork entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it is cataloged under the accession number 2020.263.9. The piece remains housed within this institution, serving as a documented example of Nuvolone's early seventeenth-century output.
The painting Still Life of Grapes and Peaches by Panfilo Nuvolone is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Within the museum's records, the work is identified by the accession number 2020.263.9. Executed in 1617 using oil paint on panel, the piece depicts a still life arrangement featuring grapes and peaches.
While the artwork's current location and inventory details are documented, the available sources do not provide specific information regarding its past exhibition history or a detailed chronology of its display.
Overview
This oil painting, titled Still Life of Grapes and Peaches, presents a carefully arranged composition of fruit. It features a single peach resting atop two distinct bunches of grapes, one green and one purple, all contained within a clear glass vase. The arrangement is set against a dark, undefined background, which serves to highlight the vibrancy of the fruits. Subtle foliage and additional plums are visible, adding depth to the scene.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Panfilo Nuvolone (1581–1651) was an Italian painter of the Mannerist period, who painted both religious and still life topics, active in Cremona and Mantua.
