MARCANTONIO RIZZI
(Piacenza, 1648 – 1723)
Pair of Still Lifes
Oil on canvas, 57x72 cm
The extraordinary brilliance of the chromatic chords, lively and colourful, appears at first glance as the primary element of this pair of still lifes, emphatically decorative and ornamental; the painter indeed tends to develop rather traditional representations of fruits and, sometimes, flowers, towards a sumptuous almost "sensually" Baroque richness, full of plastic and colourful suggestions.
The singular volume of the foreground fruits, arranged in a composition but more often almost "standing alone", is also intended to draw the eye to the second plane, literally dominated by looming, monumental bunches of grapes; moreover, note the originality of the idea of placing, in the first canvas, a sort of grapevine pergola, as well as the addition, in the second canvas, of a garland of flowers, defined by the fluidity of colour, absolutely typical of our master in this field.
The material density of the colour, enhanced by the effects of light, accentuates the tactile dimension of the plant elements, in the surface as in the plastic relief, particularly striking in the virtuoso passage consisting of the definition of "humped" elements in the individual fruits.
