Still Life with Grapes and Other Fruit

The Artist

Luca Forte was born between 1600 and 1605 in Naples [1]. There is little biographical information on Luca Forte, but he is still considered to be one of the founders of still life painting in Naples. Much of the information and timeline of Forte’s activity has been pieced together through analysis of his rarely dated works and the evolution of his painting style in these works. Furthermore, study of correspondences with patrons and patron inventories also provide details into Forte’s career. Forte’s paintings tended to be on the smaller scale, ranging from 50 to 75 centimetres in width [2]. These more modest sized paintings were accompanied by a more modest price range in Naples, as stated by Christopher Marshall who cites lower priced works by Giacomo Recco who was Forte’s contemporary. However, Forte also worked on many larger scale works that earned him large payments and prestige. In particular, Forte’s detailed correspondence with Don Antonio Ruffo of Messina in 1649, shows conversation between Forte and Ruffo about Forte’s pricing of his work. Ruffo commissioned a still life painting from Forte, paying Forte an initial down payment of 50 ducats. Two weeks after receiving the down payment, Forte responded to Ruffo’s inquiries about the final price of the piece by stating that the composition would cost around 200 ducats [3]. Christopher Marshall argues that this series of exchanges suggests that Forte may have regularly received commissions of a similar price and prestige, however the available documentary evidence limits scholars’ ability to confirm. 

Still Life with Grapes and Other Fruit

Still Life with Grapes and Other Fruit is an oil on copper painting created by Luca Forte in the 1630s [4]. The painting measures 31.4 by 25.9 centimeters and is signed “Luca Forte” in the lower left portion of the painting on the brick of the painted wall. The painting illustrates a bounty of various fruits, including grapes, apples, pears, and pomegranates in the foreground. A landscape of rolling hills is pictured in the background. This decision to use a landscape as the background follows in the lead of Caravaggio’s style, rather than the Neapolitan style of using dark background [5]. Characteristic of Forte’s work, he also included fine details including the bird flying above the grapes, a grasshopper perched on a grape vine, and water drops of moisture on both the fruits and the vase holding the grape plant. Forte’s careful brush strokes deftly depict the form, shadows, light, and solidity of the fruits depicted in the painting. 

Works Cited 

1. Causa, Raffaello. La Natura Morta a Napoli Nel Sei e Nel Settecento. 5. Vol. 5. Storia Di Napoli. Napoli, Italia: Società editrice storia di Napoli, 1969.

2. Marshall, Christopher. “More Beautiful than Nature Itself: The Early Commercial and Critical Fortunes of Neapolitan Baroque Still-Life Painting.” Open Arts Journal 2017-18, no. 6 (2018). https://doi.org/10.5456/issn.2050-3679/2018w07.

3. Marshall, Christopher. “More Beautiful than Nature Itself: The Early Commercial and Critical Fortunes of Neapolitan Baroque Still-Life Painting.” Open Arts Journal 2017-18, no. 6 (2018). https://doi.org/10.5456/issn.2050-3679/2018w07.

4.  “Still Life with Grapes and Other Fruit (Getty Museum).” The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles. Getty Museum, January 1, 1970. https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/788/luca-forte-still-life-with-grapes-and-other-fruit-italian-1630s/?dz=0.5000%2C0.6087%2C0.46.

5.  “Still Life with Grapes and Other Fruit (Getty Museum).” The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles. Getty Museum, January 1, 1970. https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/788/luca-forte-still-life-with-grapes-and-other-fruit-italian-1630s/?dz=0.5000%2C0.6087%2C0.46.