Melons, apples, grapes and other fruit scattered on a rocky ledge

This lavish composition of grapes, apples, peaches and pumpkins repeats with some variants a painting now in a private collection (G. and U. Bocchi, Pittori di natura morta a Roma. Artisti italiani 1630-1750, Viadana, 2005, p. 584, fig. BCV.4). This suggests the use of a cartoon in the painter’s workshop, an important tool for the repetition of successful compositions or of especially useful motifs. As suggested by Dr. Ludovica Trezzani, a similar workshop practice was also probably used by Michelangelo Pace del Campidoglio (see L. Trezzani, op. cit., p. 429). For a discussion on Bartolomeo Castelli the Elder, see lot 231.
We are grateful to Dr. Ludovica Trezzani for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs and for her help in cataloguing this lot.