Apples, Figs and Plums
Second third of the XVII century. Oil on canvas.Room 018
This work and its pendant (P7926) share innumerable characteristics, notwithstanding their clear differences. They reflect a painting style popular at the Spanish court during the first half of the 17th century: small still lifes for specific clients that enjoyed decorating the rooms in their mansions with images from nature presented in a straightforward, untheatrical mannee.
These works generally presented recognizable compact surfaces -normally of rustic, but well-cut and edged stone- bearing inanimate objects clearly drawn from everyday life. This tradition lasted throughout the century, beginning with the works of Van der Hamen, and continuing with Juan de Arellano, who was fond of placing some of his flower vases on flat stone elements. It culminated in Meléndez and his circle before giving way to the romantic fantasies of the 19th century.
The protagonists of each work are fruit -fundamentally apples, which predominate, although in P7925 figs and plums play a subordinate role with a few timid leaves and branches. The vividly colored and irregularly spherical apples in the foreground stand out against the dark background and contrast with the surface beneath them, whose chipped edge conveys its stony consistency. Each of these fruits offers its finest qualities, leading Cherry to suggest they may have been painted from life rather than from memory or imagination (Text drawn from Luna, J. J.: El bodegón español en el Prado. De Van der Hamen a Goya, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2008, p. 68).