Still Life with Game, Vegetables and Fruit
1602. Oil on canvas.Room 008A
Although Juan Sánchez Cotán pursued different genres of painting, portraits, and religious compositions, his main contribution to Spanish painting was the establishment of the still life, considered the most characteristically Spanish genre. However, such a statement is extremely reductive and does not take into account the variety of possibilities realised in this genre in Spain. Sobriety, intimacy, magical purity, mysterious intensity, elegance in simplicity or symbolic humility are the characteristics that have been used to describe the Spanish still life of the early 17th century. It is known that Sánchez Cotán was a disciple of Blas de Prado, once a distinguished painter, particularly well-known for his still lives. The Italian still-life painters Cario Antonio Procaccini, Pamphilo Nevulone, and especially Fede Galizia are also prominent references in the work of the Spanish painter.
Sánchez Cotán draws a geometric stony cavity, probably a cupboard for storing fresh food. Its black background strongly emphasises the chosen elements, meticulously painted and effectively illuminated by a lateral light that casts strong shadows. Apples and lemons, carrots and radishes, partridges and little birds, and a splendid thistle are arranged in a harmonious pattern to create a perfect illusion: a visual intrusion into everyday life which, with Sánchez Cotán, reaches a tenebrist force that foreshadows Caravaggio.
The still life is dated 1602, a truly early date in the production of this genre of painting. It coincides with the painter´s period in Toledo, when he was at the peak of his creative development, and a year before he left his acclaimed workshop to join the Carthusian order as a layman. In 1603 he compiled an inventory of his possessions in which he included a canvas of the thistle where the partridges are. This is the original of the other works and was painted by Juan de Salazar. The description seems to refer to this painting, and two interesting pieces of information are included in this short text: firstly, the addressee of the still life, Juan de Salazar, a miniaturist who worked at El Escorial like Sánchez Cotán, and who acted as his legal executor. The other remarkable detail is the fact that the work was unrelated to the others. This is clear evidence that the repetition of elements and compositional patterns was common practice, probably in response to the requirements of the customers, who had little concern for the concept of originality.
The painting belonged to the collection of the infante Sebastián Gabriel. The Museo del Prado acquired the canvas from one of his descendants, the Duke of Hernani, in 1991.
El Prado en el Hermitage, Museo Estatal del Hermitage: Museo del Prado, 2011, p.120-121
