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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.

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.

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