Triumph of Fruit

Carlo Mainieri XVII sec. d.C./ seconda metà

A work attributed to Carlo Maineri, a Roman painter active between 1662 and 1700, specialising in still lifes, already known at the time for his opulent compositions set in interiors adorned with curtains and collectibles, bouquets of flowers and triumphs of fruit. Mainieri was a master, whom Eduard Safarik had already identified for some years through descriptions in the inventories of Roman collections, such as that of the Colonna House.
The representation of the triumph of fruit set outdoors, in great abundance and variety, sometimes under rows of vines, is a distinctive and recurrent element in still life painting in Rome and Naples between the end of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century.
The bright, glossy paint of this canvas, which responds sensitively and vividly to light, also indicates a focus on Nordic examples, such as the contemporary paintings of Christian Berentz. This Dutch and northern style is grafted onto the clearly Roman compositional layout and finds its most significant precedent in the work of Michelangelo Cerquozzi, a still life painter.

Technical information

Author: Carlo Mainieri
Title: Triumph of Fruit
Date: XVII sec. d.C./ seconda metà
Material and technique: Oil on canvas
Size: 98x73,5 cm
Location: Palazzo Pretorio Museum
Second Floor, Mezzanine

The coexistence of lucid elegance mediated by Northern painting and stylistic and compositional elements of the Italian tradition is a characteristic feature of the production of artists working in Rome between the 17th and 18th century: an international lexicon shared by Italian and foreign painters, the names of some of whom have been attributed as the author of these paintings over the years. In 1912, Roberto Papini considered the canvases to be Flemish works while, in 1972, Giuseppe Marchini pointed out their strong resemblance to the canvases in the Museo della Floridiana in Naples, attributed to an anonymous master who took his name from the Floridiana, considering Naples to be the place of their creation. Names of Roman artists, such as Pietro Navarra and Michelangelo da Campidoglio, were mentioned in 1990 by Maria Pia Mannini who, confirming a varied but common cultural milieu in the production of these years, also made reference to the Neapolitan Giovan Battista Ruoppolo, author of vegetable trophies, as well as the Flemish naturalised Italian Abraham Brueghel.
The correct indication of this work’s belonging to the Maestro della Floridiana group, suggested by Marchini, was reiterated in 1989 by Roberto Middione. It was only in 2005 (Bocchi) that the personality of this master with a conventional name was merged into the richer corpus of Carlo Maineri, a Roman painter specialising in still lifes, already known at the time for his opulent compositions set in interiors adorned with curtains and collectibles, bouquets of flowers and triumphs of fruit. Mainieri was a master, whom Eduard Safarik had already identified for some years through descriptions in the inventories of Roman collections, such as that of the Colonna House.