18th Century, Painting with Still Life by Giovanni Paolo Castelli LoSpadino

Giovanni Paolo Castelli, known as "Lo Spadino" (Rome 1659 – around 1730)
Still Life with a Composition of Fruit
Dimensions: frame cm L 76.5 x H 61 x D 6.5. Canvas cm L 55.5 x H 40

This oil-on-canvas painting, of excellent quality, depicts a still life with a composition of fruit. White and black grapes, peaches, figs, and quinces are arranged inside a glass bowl, whose transparency is masterfully rendered through delicate highlights that emphasize the reflections of light. The composition occupies the entire canvas; the grapes, vine leaves, and some fruits placed outside the bowl are partially depicted, as if they were spilling out of the viewer's sight and the frame. This is a typical Baroque trick that enhances the theatricality and abundance, creating a composition that is not static but engaging. Little is revealed of the environment in which the fruit is portrayed; the fruit is lit by a light coming from the left, which highlights the colors and forms through skillful use of shadows, some of which are very pronounced.
Stylistically, this work fits into the catalog of Giovanni Paolo Castelli, known as "Lo Spadino" (Rome 1659-1730). The exuberant Baroque decoration, the quality of the fruit depiction, and the saturated, vibrant color palette are all elements that characterize the known works of the Roman painter.
Giovanni Paolo Castelli, called "Lo Spadino," is the most famous figure in a family of artists specializing in still lifes, active in Rome during the second half of the 17th century and the early decades of the 18th. The Castelli family included three related painters: the brothers Bartolomeo (1641-1686) and Giovanni Paolo, separated by eighteen years, and Giovanni Paolo’s son, also named Bartolomeo (1696-1738). Giovanni Paolo is the most famous and documented member of the Castelli family, known as "Lo Spadino," a nickname derived from a small dagger that he symbolically placed among the fruit in a painting, which was later adopted by his son and also used in official documents.
Giovanni Paolo was born in Rome on April 8, 1659, the son of Felice, originally from Montalto delle Marche, and Domenica Crescenzi, from Rome. On March 28, 1690, he married Apollonia De Marchis, daughter and sister of two "quadrari" (painters specialized in the depiction of frames), Giovanni and Tommaso, who later helped spread Castelli’s works.
The painter lived in Rome, as evidenced by parish records from San Lorenzo in Lucina and Santa Maria del Popolo. He spent his youth near the port of Ripetta and always lived in the vicinity (via del Babuino, Corso, and via dei Condotti). Between 1680 and 1683, there is a documentary gap due to the fact that the painter served a prison sentence for murder.
Giovanni Paolo received his first artistic training in his elder brother Bartolomeo's workshop, who was also a painter of still lifes. After Bartolomeo's death in 1686, Giovanni Paolo inherited the workshop, the paintings, and the clientele, receiving important commissions from Roman noble families. His works are cataloged in the most important Roman and Italian collections, such as the Corsini, Colonna, Borghese, Pamphili, and Chigi galleries. His close relationship with the Flemish painter Giovanni Herinans, court painter to the Pamphili family, and his connection to the artist Adriano Honinck demonstrate his strong ties to the Northern European artistic environment. Moreover, between 1671 and 1674, he lived near Abraham Brueghel, whose works had a significant influence on him, imparting a taste for bold, intense color combinations. He was also greatly influenced by the German artist Christian Berentz (1658-1722), who arrived in Rome in the 1680s and remained there until his death.
Through Berentz’s example, Castelli adopted the habit of including transparent or reflective objects in his compositions, such as crystal glasses, glass fruit bowls, and silver objects, which allowed him to explore the multiple possibilities of light play. While Bartolomeo the elder still adhered to the legacy of Michelangelo Cerquozzi's works, Giovanni Paolo distinguished himself with a more vibrant, free, and expressive use of color, achieving the highest acclaim within the Castelli family as the finest interpreter of the prevailing Baroque fervor.
Giovanni Paolo Castelli died in Rome around 1730.
The work under study fits perfectly among the paintings influenced by Berentz’s exploration of light reflections on glass and crystal. The fruit bowl depicted here shows a perfect rendering of the material’s transparency, with the fruits described in apparent disorder, yet carefully balanced in their color and form. Even where the grape bunch seems to fall towards the left, it finds a balance in the opposing branch of the fig. Similar compositions and glass bowls frequently appear in his paintings.
The artwork is presented within a wood frame in style, lacquered to faux marble.

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