Still Life with Apples, Grapes and a Dragonfly

Luca Forte was one of the pioneers of still life painting in Naples and was active in the first half of the seventeenth century. Little is known about his life, and although he signed his works (such as this one), he never dated them. This small still life of shiny apples and bunches of grapes is typical of Luca Forte’s production, but it is unusually painted on copper. Copper was favoured by artists as a support for small-scale works, as its smooth surface allowed for the use of a very fine brush to focus on tiny details, like the dragonfly darting in the composition from the upper left. We can recognise two different grape varieties. The first, curved and elongated, is the white cornicella, also known as ‘green gold’. Grown in the Vesuvius area, this grape is so called because it recalls the shape of the characteristic Neapolitan talisman called the corno, or horn. The second smaller, rounded and lightly bruised grape is another variety from Southern Italy, known as the strawberry grape. The fruit is set against a dark background and is resting upon a simple marble ledge. This allows the artist to concentrate on capturing the textures, imperfections, and solidity of the fruit, producing a realistic depiction that is based on intense observation of nature. Signed: I.f.