The Larder

The Larder was likely painted by Antonio Maria Vassallo around 1650–1660. Its early provenance traces to Cardinal Joseph Fesch, who owned it in Rome after 1815. The painting appeared in Fesch’s posthumous 1841 catalogue as by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, and was sold in his 1845 Roman sale to Alessandro Aducci.

By 1876 it belonged to Reginald Cholmondely at Condover Hall, and was auctioned at Christie’s, London, in 1897. It was purchased for Sir John Charles Robinson by Martin Colnaghi, acting for Sir Francis Cook, entering the Cook collection at Doughty House, Richmond. It descended through the Cook family, Sir Frederick Lucas Cook, Sir Herbert Frederick Cook, and Sir Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, until sold in 1948 to Gualtiero Volterra for Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi.

The Samuel H. Kress Foundation acquired it in March 1949 and donated it to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in 1961.

The Larder is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it entered the collection in 1961 as a gift from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. The work was previously part of the Cook collection, having been acquired by Sir Francis Cook, 1st Baronet, for Doughty House in Richmond, Surrey, and subsequently inherited by his descendants until its sale in 1948. Its accession history includes a 1949 purchase by the Kress Foundation from Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, following the painting's earlier ownership by Cardinal Joseph Fesch and the Cholmondely family. The inventory records identify it as part of the Samuel H. Kress Collection within the museum's holdings.

The Larder by Antonio Maria Vassallo entered the National Gallery of Art through the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in 1961, forming part of the Cook collection.

Scholarly attention to the work has been limited, with early attributions to Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione and later reconsiderations of its authorship.

The painting's provenance traces a complex path from Cardinal Joseph Fesch in Rome through several British collectors before its acquisition by the Kress Foundation.

Its stylistic analysis situates it within the Baroque period, reflecting the influence of 17th-century Italian naturalistic still-life traditions.

The work is cataloged in the National Gallery of Art's collection as part of the Samuel H. Kress Collection, indicating its recognized significance within the canon of European art.

Anton Maria Vassallo’s oil on canvas, dated around 1655, presents a cluttered interior surface teeming with foodstuffs and animal carcasses. A rooster, a rabbit, and a peacock lie amid scattered fish, cookware, and a gourd, rendered in a palette of muted earth tones punctuated by occasional vivid accents such as the rooster’s red comb.