Fede Galizia

Nygh collection, Rotterdam;
Campagnano collection, Florence, by 1964;
Anonymous sale, Milan, Porro & C., 26 May 2004, lot 36.

Naples, Palazzo Reale; Zurich, Zurich Art Gallery; Rotterdam, Boymans Museum, La natura morta italiana, October 1964 - April 1965, no. 19;
Colorno, Reggia di Colorno, Fasto e Rigore: La Natura Morta nell'Italia settentrionale dal XVI al SVIII secolo, 20 April - 25 June 2000, no. 32;
Turin, Fondazione Accorsi, L'incantesimo dei sensi: una collezione di nature morte del Seicento per il Museo Accorsi, 30 November 2005 - 1 May 2006, no. 1.

R. Roli, in La natura morta italiana: catalogo della mostra, exhibition catalogue, Milan 1964, p. 29, cat. no. 19, reproduced plate 7a; 
S. Bottari, Fede Galizia, pittrice (1578-1630), Trento 1965, pp. 13, 17, reproduced plate 7;
A. Sutherland Harris and L. Nochlin, Women Artists: 1550-1950, exhibition catalogue, Los Angeles 1976, pp. 116-117, note 14;
M. Rosci, in Natura in posa: La grande stagione della natura morta europea, Milan 1977, pp. 86, 91, reproduced fig. 73;
A. Veca, and P. Lorenzelli, Parádeisos, exhibition catalogue, Bergamo 1982, p. 302;
A. Veca and P. Lorenzelli, Forma vera. Contributi a una storia della natura morta italiana, exhibition catalogue, Bergamo 1985, pp. 132, 140, reproduced fig. 35;
F. Zeri, La natura morta in italia, exhibition catalogue, Milan 1989, vol. 1, pp. 200, 222, 224, reproduced fig. 255;
F. Caroli, Fede Galizia, Turin 1989, p. 83, cat. no. 7, reproduced fig. 7;
A. Morandotti, in G. Godi, Fasto e Rigore: La Natura Morta nell'Italia settentrionale dal XVI al SVIII secolo, exhibition catalogue, Milan 2000, pp. 134-135, cat. no. 32, reproduced;
A. Cottino, L'incantesimo dei sensi: una collezione di nature morte del Seicento per il Museo Accorsi, exhibition catalogue, Turin 2005, pp. 32-35, 97, cat. no. 1, reproduced.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work on panel has two vertical battens on the right and left, but it is otherwise unreinforced. The panel is slightly curved from top to bottom. There are two or three lines of slightly raised paint within the still life, but the surface is otherwise stable. The painting is very heavily varnished, and retouches are not clearly visible under ultraviolet light. However, the work has been overcleaned, and there seems to be some restored weakness particularly in the background. The hazelnuts and green leaves on the tabletop have discolored over time, and there is restored weakness in the arrangement in the silver dish. However, the restorations are reasonably successful, and the work could be hung in its current state.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This exquisite and vivid still life is an early work of the pioneering female painter Fede Galizia, who played a fundamental role in the emergence of still-life painting in Italy and throughout Europe in the first quarter of the seventeenth century.  Daughter of the miniaturist and painter, Nunzio Galizia, Fede trained under her father, and her precocious talent was already on full display as a young teenager.  By the age of 20, she had achieved international renown as a painter of portraits and devotional compositions, yet it is her remarkable still lifes that established her lasting reputation and are considered her most important works today.   Never overfilled and always imbued with a degree of naturalism, Galizia’s still lifes impart quiet and indelible impressions that transcend time.  In the present work, soft glints of yellow, pinks, violets and blues illuminate the dramatically lit composition.  From a raised viewpoint, we look down upon metal stand placed at center is filled with peaches, jasmine, and a spray of hyacinth.  Near the base of the stand lies a single peach, as well as a tulip and hazelnuts still in their hull. 

This work has been well known to scholars since its first exhibition in 1964, and should be considered, according to Morandotti, a fundamental work by Fede Galizia and can be placed towards the beginning of her career.¹  It can also be closely compared to two other early still lifes that include the same fruit stand: one dated 1602, formerly in the Anholt collection,² and another recorded in the Lazarus collection that is a close variation of the present composition.³    

1. See Morandotti, under Literature. 
2. Oil on panel, 30 by 35 cm. See Caroli, under Literature, pp. 82-83, reproduced plate 6. 
3. Oil on panel, 28.5 by 39.4 cm. See ibid., p. 83, reproduced plate 8.