Still Life with Salmon, Lemon and three Vessels is a painting by Meléndez, a Spanish painter.
The painting is from 1772.
This painting is a still life.
A still life is a painting that depicts objects and food.
This painting depicts a piece of fresh salmon, a lemon, and various containers on a wooden table.
The containers are made of different materials and for different purposes.
For example, there is a bowl, a copper vessel, and a jug.
The lemon is in the foreground of the painting on the right side.
The size of the containers and the long spoon at the back of the picture helps us see how deep the table is.
Luis Egidio Meléndez is the author of this painting.
He learned to paint from his family members, who were also painters.
Later, Meléndez specialised in still lifes paintings.
He is considered one of the most important still life painters in history.
Meléndez painted objects with attention to detail and precision, making them look real.
His still life paintings continue the tradition of Spanish painters, like Sánchez Cotán and Zurbarán.
This painting was one of the 44 paintings that the Prince of Asturias, who later became King Charles the Fourth of Spain, commissioned Meléndez to paint.
The Prince of Asturias intended to decorate his Cabinet of Natural History.
The paintings displayed different objects and foods that people ate in different regions of Spain during each season of the year.
Almost all of these paintings are now in the Prado Museum.
Funded with the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRPP) , Spain’s Next Generation EU financing and according to the initiatives within the component C.24.I3 Digitization and valorization of major cultural services. The project is part of Campus Prado within Accessibility and Signage: Revitalization of the Urban Environment action line and as a universal accessibility activity.
