Circle of The Master of Hartford

With P. de Boer, Munich, 1994, from whom acquired by the present owners.

A. Cottino, La natura morta al tempo di Caravaggio, exh. cat., Rome 1995, p. 140, under cat. no. 32, reproduced in reverse, in colour (as Pittore Caravaggesco).

The canvas has recently been cleaned, relined and re-stretched. The painting is in very good overall condition. The largest repairs visible under ultra-violet light are to an old irregular 10 cm vertical tear amide the figs, and to a 4 x 3 cm area of damage in the centre left margin. Other repairs are mostly local and minor in character and chiefly confined to the left and lower margins and around the plums. The varnish remains clear and even, and the painting should not require any further attention. Offered with a later parcel gilt wood Baroque style frame in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present work, and others by the same hand, have traditionally been identified with the hand of Pietro Paolo Bonzi (c. 1576-1636) or with the Master of Hartford (active in Rome c. 1600). The eponymous work by the Master of Hartford is a canvas that hangs in the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut.¹ It is a complex if naïve composition comprising two vases full of an abundance of flowers and a basket containing fruits and vegetables, all placed on a pale marble table top strewn with other fruits. The still lifes ascribed to the Master of Hartford have long been tentatively associated with the young Caravaggio. In 1995 Alberto Cottino identified the present work as being from the same hand as a larger canvas depicting fruits and vegetables in the Galleria Estense, Modena, which was also traditionally given to Bonzi.² He places this artist somewhere in between Bonzi and the Master of Hartford and dates the present canvas to around 1620. Professor Cottino has identified a nucleus of works by this hand that includes a further four canvasses he considered to certainly be by the same artist, and a possible two more whose attribution is less certain.³ Included in the group of paintings Professor Cottino believes to be from the same hand is the celebrated Still Life with a Parrot, the present whereabouts of which is unknown but which was published by Cottino in 1989.⁴

Each fruit represents an element of the life of Christ, for example: the black grapes represent death and the white grapes, the Resurrection; the violet plums are signs of the Passion of Christ; the pomegranate represents the Church, and the jasmine flowers represent the Virgin Mary.

1. E.P.Bowron, 'Master of the Hartford Still-Life', in Renaissance to Rococo, Masterpieces from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, E. Zafran (ed.), exh. cat., Yale, New Haven and London 2004, p. 68, cat. no. 15., reproduced p. 69.
2. Cottino 1995, p. 140, reproduced p. 141.
3. As relayed by Professor Cottino in a letter, a copy of which is available from the department.
4. A. Cottino, 'La Natura Morta Caravaggesca a Roma', in F. Zeri, La Natura Morta in Italia, Milan 1989, reproduced fig. 757.