Melon and an octagonal cup on a silver charger, an upturned bowl behind

Details

Cristoforo Munari (Reggio Emilia 1667-1720 Pisa)
Melon and an octagonal cup on a silver charger, an upturned bowl behind
oil on canvas
8¾ x 11¾ in. (22.2 x 29.9 cm.)

Literature

L. Salerno, Italian still life painting from three centuries, The Silvano Lodi collection, exhibition catalogue, Florence, 1984, pp. 137-9, no. 63.
G. Anedi, et al., La curiosità dipinta, Milan, 1990, p. 46, no. 24.
Italian still life painting, from The Silvano Lodi collection, exhibition catalogue, Jerusalem, 1994.
Italian still life painting, from The Silvano Lodi collection, exhibition catalogue, Tokyo, 2001, p. 71, no. 32.
N. Schneider, et al., L'Art Gourmand, exhibition catalogue, Brussels, 1996, pp. 232-3, no. 68.
F. Baldassari, Cristoforo Munari, Milan, 1998, pp. 164-5, no. 54.
S. Dathe, Natura morta italiana: Italiensiche stilleben aus vier Jahrhunderten, sammlung Silvano Lodi, exhibition catalogue, Ravensburg, 2003, p. 18.

Exhibited

Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek, Italian still life painting from three centuries, The Silvano Lodi collection, 27 November 1984-22 February 1985, 63; Berlin, Gemäldegalerie Staatliche Museen-Preussicher Kulturbesitz, 6 September-27 October 1985.
Milan, X Internazionale Antiquariato, La curiosità dipinta, 30 March-8 April 1990; and Torino, 18 April-5 May 1990, no. XXIV.
Jerusalem, The Israel Museum of Art, Italian still life painting, from The Silvano Lodi collection, June 1994.
Tokyo, Seiji Togo Memorial Museum of Art, Italian still life painting, from The Silvano Lodi collection, 28 April-26 May 2001, no. 32; and on tour in Japan.
Brussels, La Galerie du Crédit Communal, L'Art Gourmand, 19 November 1996-23 February 1997, no. 68; Darmstadt, Hessisches Landesmuseum, 5 March-1 June 1997; and Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, 19 June-14 September 1997.
Ravensburg, Schloss Achberg, Natura morta italiana: Italienische stilleben aus vier Jahrhunderten, sammlung Silvano Lodi, 11 April-12 October, 2003.

Lot Essay

Munari contrasts the succulent orange of the melon with the brittle sheen of the Chinese porcelain pieces. He intensifies the illusionistic effect with the reflections of the various components on the bright silver tray. In 1706 the abbot Orazio Marrini described Munari's talents, writing 'he delighted moreover in representing with lively colouring pieces of fir wood in such a way as to make one think that attached to them with pins were prints and drawings, little portraits, scissors and other suchlike implements with such lifelikeness as to astound one'. This painting typifies Munari's extraordinary facility with such trompe l'oeil effects.

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