STANCHI

As critics have repeatedly stated, a safe philological distinction between the various members of the Stanchi family is not an easy matter and due caution is advised. However, the canvases presented here exhibit an undoubted quality of execution and document quite well the cultural temperament characterising the still life genre between archaic or post-Caravaggesque severity and early Baroque exuberance. In addition, one grasps the suggestions of Flemish rigour and decorative necessity or, as coined by De Marchi, that luxury realism that, while adhering to natural truth, meets the needs of decoration in the Baroque age.

One also perceives how symbolic allusions characterise the still lives of the first decades of the 17th century.

Two distinct visions are diluted and almost confronted: the severe one visible in the foreground of the canvas and the exuberant flower vase above, which responds to a decidedly more modern and parade-like vision.

There is no doubt, however, that the result is of extraordinary visual impact, corroborated by the beautiful conservation that highlights the quality of the forms and draftsmanship.

Restorations

Dimensions in centimetres

Length 135

Depth

Height 110