Andalusian or viceroyalty school; c. 1800.

Andalusian or viceregal school; c. 1800.
"Still life with sweets.
Oil on canvas.
Measurements: 69 x 87 cm; 78 x 96 cm (frame).
The painting presents a carefully balanced composition, characteristic of the eighteenth-century still life. On a dark table are arranged, with an almost geometric logic, various objects that appeal to the senses: a large greenish blue fruit bowl brimming with oranges dominates the upper plane, providing volume and a warm chromatic accent that contrasts with the gloom of the background.
In the foreground, a white plate displays a variety of pastries and biscuits, some decorated with colored icings. The arrangement is frontal and clear, seeking to make each element identifiable, rather than suggesting dynamism. On the left, a small vase with flowers introduces a naturalistic and chromatic counterpoint, softening the rigidity of the composition. A knife blade shines at the bottom, directed towards the viewer, establishing an axis that invites visual participation, almost like an invitation to share the table.
The treatment of light is sober but effective: a side spotlight illuminates the objects, highlighting their volume and texture through delicate hallmarks of chiaroscuro. The neutral background, completely dark, isolates the elements and concentrates the attention on the still life, generating a theatrical effect.
The still life was, in the Hispanic and viceregal tradition, a fundamental genre for exploring the relationship between the material and the symbolic. Although its appearance is simple, food, flowers, domestic objects, it encloses a sense of moral and social order. In the colonial context, these compositions reflected the abundance and diversity of available products, and could be read as symbols of prosperity and refinement. In Andalusian and Viceroyalty painting of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the still life becomes a space for pictorial experimentation: a study of light, color and texture, but also of the social hierarchies implicit in the access to these culinary luxuries.