Francesco Mantovano Recorded in Venice from 1636 - 1663

We are grateful to Dr. John Spike for identifying this painting to be a work by Mantovano, on the basis of photographs.

Mantovano is first mentioned in the records of the Fraglia de'pittori in Venice from 1636-39 having reached the status of independent master.  He may be considered one of the first artists to practice the genre of still life painting in the Veneto.  Though little is known regarding his early work or with whom he studied, Federico Zeri, in La Natura Morta in Italia (see vol. I, pp. 326-328), mentions that Mantovano must have been aware of the works of Flemish artists such as Adriaen Collaert (1560-1618) and Johann Theodor De Bry (1561-1623) and may have even read Flora, an illustrated work by Giovanni Battista Ferrari which describes the many ways to arrange flowers.