Offered by Galerie FC Paris
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Oil on canvas
Presented in an attractive carved and gilded wooden style frame.
Total dimensions: 95 x 112 cm. The frame: 77 x 95 cm
This Still Life with Fruits and a Vase of Flowers before a Brocade Curtain, attributed to Francesco Cittadini and his workshop, epitomizes the opulent spirit of seventeenth century Italian Baroque painting. On a dark velvet tablecloth, a silver plate holds peaches, grapes, and pomegranates rendered with striking realism, each form illuminated by a vivid, theatrical light reminiscent of Caravaggesque stage lighting. A butterfly resting on the peaches, delicate and short lived, introduces a subtle symbol of transience and the fleeting nature of beauty. To the right, a bronze vase adorned with intricate motifs and a mascaron supports a luxuriant bouquet of tulips, roses, and anemones, their colors harmonizing with the warm tones of the fruits. The brocade curtain, with its sumptuous red and gold weave and elaborate gold fringe, demonstrates the painter’s virtuosity in depicting texture and light, transforming fabric into a spectacle of brilliance. The composition unfolds like a theatrical tableau, balancing abundance and fragility, sensuality, and meditation on time.
Francesco Cittadini (c.1616–1681), active in Bologna, was primarily known as a portrait painter, admired for his refined psychological insight and elegant style. A pupil of Guido Reni, he also produced remarkable still lifes, where his mastery of color and form reveals a painter equally attentive to the poetry of objects as to the grace of human presence.
Nice condition. Sold with a certificate of authenticity
