Melons, peaches and plums; and A melon, peaches, plums and cherries, on a forest floor

Michele Pace del Campidoglio was one of the foremost still life painters in Rome in the 17th century. At that time, painters of natura morta were a rare inclusion in artists' biographies and, consequently, comparatively little is known of his life. His first recorded commission was in 1654 for Marcantonio Colonna, and the Colonna inventories show that a further seven pictures were subsequently commissioned for the family collections. He also benefited from frequent employment from Cardinal Flavio Chigi, the nephew of the incumbent Chigi Pope Alessandro VII. Notwithstanding his success with the Papal Curia and the noble families of Rome, it was only after his premature death in 1669 that his national and international reputation began to flourish. His works became highly sought after in England during the 18th century, and indeed, Abbot Luigi Lanzi described the artist as “eccelente nei frutti e quasi Raffaele di tali pitture” (Excellent in the depiction of fruit and almost the Raphael of that genre; see L. Lanzi, Storia pittorica della Italia: Dall risorgimento delle Belle Arti fin presso al fine del XVIII secolo, Florence, 1834, II, p. ). A melon, peaches and plums can be compared to a work by Campidoglio, with Galleria D’Orlane, Casalmaggiore, which repeats the arrangement of the peaches and plums in the foreground at center.