Sevillian school; first half of the XVII century.

Sevillian school; first half of the seventeenth century.
"Still life of pantry.
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 87 x 136 cm.
In this work the painting of figures is combined with the still life with animals, as it was frequent within the full baroque not only in Spain, but also in other schools such as the Flemish or Italian. We see a kitchen interior, where the stone plinths that refer to Sánchez Cotán allow the different objects, fruits and animals to be placed in an orderly and staggered manner, allowing their perfect contemplation. Other details, such as the birds hanging from the wall or the basket on the lower step, also show the knowledge of Sánchez Cotán. However, the painter introduces a character that brings an enormous narrative sense, and at the same time scenographic, to the scene, and also opens the space to a snowy landscape, which reinforces the winter sense of the image, as does the brazier in front of which the character warms his hands. This type of scene became very popular during the seventeenth century, in fact, thematically this work is related to the painting of Francisco Barrera, still life painter of the Madrid school of the first half of the seventeenth century. Documented as a master from 1923, he was especially active during the thirties and forties. Although he also painted landscapes, decorative and genre paintings, he excelled above all in still life painting. His painting enjoyed great success; his workshop had many disciples, and he was a friend of other still life painters such as Antonio Ponce and Juan de Arellano. He had, however, some problems with the authorities. In 1934 they investigated his stores and took away several portraits of the king, considering them unseemly (there were very strict rules about the pictorial representation of Philip IV). Ten years later he was denounced to the Inquisition for making religious works that did not conform to iconography. His still lifes reveal, above all, the influence of Juan de Van der Hamen, the main head of the Madrid school of the first half of the 17th century. However, being somewhat later, Barrera is less severe and geometric: he places the objects in a more intuitive, more random way, he is less meticulous in the description and does not recreate so much in the textures. Neither does he present the courtly tone of Van der Hamen's still lifes, but tends more towards the everyday. Thus, Barrera presents the food in kitchen-like contexts although, from 1626, the supports will no longer be tables but stone plinths like the one we see here, influenced by Sánchez Cotán. Especially famous were his seasonal still lifes like this one, with seasonal foods, which became fashionable at court. Barrera represents a more advanced moment in the Baroque than Van der Hamen and Cotán: he seeks asymmetry in his compositions, naturalism in the arrangement of the elements, and even opens occasionally to landscape. In his style, drawing predominates, and he likes to place elements in foreshortening, leaving the surface on which they rest and accentuating the sensation of depth, as here the bird located in the lower right corner. Francisco Barrera is represented in the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville, the National Museum of Slovakia, as well as in other important collections around the world, both public and private.