UNKNOWN MASTER, Italian
(active 1610s in Rome)

Basket of Fruit

1615-20
Oil on canvas, 51 x 67 cm
Private collection

The motif of an isolated basket of fruit recalls the celebrated prototype painted by Caravaggio, although that is conceived in an entirely different spirit. Unlike that of the Lombard painter, this composition favours solids over voids, and each fruit is given an almost close-up treatment. The picture space is entirely filled with its subject-matter.