ABRAHAM BRUEGHEL AND NICOLA VACCARO | A YOUNG WOMAN PICKING FIGS WITH THREE CHILDREN IN A TERRACED GARDEN, WITH URNS OF CARNATIONS, MORNING GLORY, AND OTHER FLOWERS, AND BASKET OF GRAPES AND OTHER FRUITS NEARBY

St. James's Galleries, London, 1960;

From whom acquired by Major Herbert Frederick Brudenell Foster (1908-1996);

By whose estate sold, London, Christie's, 18 April 1997, lot 120;

There acquired for $208,843. 

R. Lattuada, Capolavori in festa. Effimero Barocco a largo di Palazzo 1683 - 1759, exhibition catalogue, Naples 1997, pp. 150, 159-161, reproduced;

M. Izzo, "Nicola Vaccaro 1640-1709," in Metodologie conoscitive per la conservazione e la valorizzazione dei beni culturali, XV Ciclo, Secondo Universita degli Studi di Napoli, 2000-2002, pp. 137-138;

M. Izzo, "Nicola Vaccaro impresario, librettista e scenografo del pubblico teatro di Napoli San Bartolomeo dal 1683 al 1689," in Recerche sul' 600 napoletano. Saggi e documenti 2001, 2002, pp. 47, 49, reproduced in reverse;

L. Trezzani, in G. Bocchi and U. Bocchi, Pittore di natura morta a Roma. Artisti stranieri, Viadana 2004, p. 143-144, reproduced fig. AB.26;

R. Latuada in M. Izzo, Nicola Vaccaro (1640-1709). Un artista a napoli tra Barocco e Arcadia, Todi 2009, pp. 125, 191-194, cat. no. A45, reproduced pp. 23, 130, 192. 

Likely dated to circa 1685-1690, this refined canvas is a rare collaboration between Abraham Brueghel and Nicola Vaccaro, the former among the most celebrated still-life specialists of his time and the latter a much sought after figure painter from Naples. The two artists only collaborated on a few occasions, and the present example is the true masterpiece of their joint efforts.  Abraham Brueghel was the most talented and successful son of Jan Brueghel the Younger. Born in 1631 in Antwerp, he spent the majority of his career in Italy, where he established a career as a still life painter. His early years in Italy, from 1659, were spent in Rome, learning to paint in the manner of Mario Nuzzi, Michelangelo Cerquozzi and Michelangelo Pace.  Around 1676, he brought his monumental style to Naples, where he found considerable success. In about 1684, he established a successful working relationship with Nicola Vaccaro, a figure painter who trained in the studio of his famed father, Andrea Vaccaro. As visible in the present work, the two were well matched: Brueghel with his lush and luminous landscapes and Vaccaro with his beautiful and lithe figures.  

Another collaborative version of this composition by Brueghel and Vaccaro is known, a testament to its success on the Neapolitan market.¹ That painting shares an overall impression and date with the present, though it is simpler in the rendering of its details.  Comparative figurative works by Vaccaro include his Angel Appearing to Joachim and Angel² and his Diana with her Attendants, once attributed to Paolo de Matteis, but now given in full to Vaccaro.³

1. Oil on canvas, 180 by 215 cm. Sale, Christie's Rome, 15 June 2005, lot 701. See Izzo 2009, pp. 193-194, cat. no. A45a, reproduced.  

2. Oil on canvas, 165 by 230 cm. Izzo 2009, pp. 168-169, cat. no. A18, reproduced.  

3. Oil on canvas, 250 by 151 cm. Izzo 2009, pp. 223-224, cat. no. A82, reproduced.