Large 18th Century Italian Still Life painting

18th Century, Italian Painted with Still Life by Francesco Lavagna

Dimensions : cm 175,5 X 187,5 X 7,5; canvas cm 159 X 171

The fine and imposing painting, accompanied by a frame in carved and gilded wood, depicts a sumptuous composition of flowers inserted in an elegant outdoor environment. It is the work of the Italian painter Francesco Lavagna, one of the most famous protagonists of the Neapolitan still life of the early eighteenth century, and it documents the expressive qualities of the painter, able to realize with vivacity complex compositions with great decorative effect and characteristic rocaille taste, also showing excellent chromatic sensitivity.

The large canvas shows different architectural elements combined with each other and combined with a stone balustrade on which is placed a large vase in ochre color filled with a composition of flowers. Other flowers rest on the wall and rest on the stone elements. On the ground several pottery objects, such as a bowl and a ceramic plate, a wicker basket, a red jar and a transparent crystal and glass paste and a large rococo vase are also adorned with flowers beautifully matched to each other by type and color. Characteristic of the painter is the insertion of a watermelon cut in half, whose lively color matches the palette used.
In the foreground on the left, a portion of rock is inserted by the artist to increase the depth of the painting.
The background gives space to the description of an open-air landscape, with meadows, rocky elements and tall stems that act as a backdrop to the scene. A blue sky, marked by some vaporous clouds, makes the composition airy and spacious.
Clearly belonging to the Neapolitan school, the canvas shows undisputed similarities with other works by the painter Francesco Lavagna (1684-1724). The eighteenth-century Neapolitan, in the field of still life, is much appreciated and sought after today by both the antique market and critics. This type of paintings was in great demand in the past by the great collectors and patrons, nobles and rich bourgeois, to furnish the most beautiful palaces of Naples and surroundings.
The canvas documents very well the expressive qualities of Francesco Lavagna, able to create works never banal and full of a descriptive ability, of remarkable visual impact, in the rendering of the effects of light, color and matter, characterized by a fine and meticulous brushstroke.