Giovanni Paolo Castelli called Spadino Rome 1659 - circa 1730

Spadino is one of the most important figures in still-life painting in Rome during the late 17th and early 18th Centuries. He is thought to have trained with his elder brother Bartolomeo, also a still-life painter, and on the latter's death in 1686 Spadino inherited the workshop. Although paintings by Spadino are recorded in both Florence and Naples, he is known to have worked primarily in Rome. Spadino's works are characterised by a brilliant use of colour and the still-life elements are described with astonishing clarity: here the peaches' softness contrasts with the grapes' shiny peel and the fragility of the rose-petals.

The attribution has been endorsed by Prof.ssa. Mina Gregori, a copy of whose letter accompanies this lot.