ANDREA SCACCIATI
Florence, 1642 – 1710
Still life
oil on canvas, cm 127×89
This canvas is a beautiful still life of a vase of flowers, in which we can recognise daisies, white roses, white and red carnations, tulips and much more. The luxuriant bouquet of flowers is placed in a vase on a table. The rendering of the petals, stems and leaves is extremely fine. The painting fits in with the highest tradition of this genre, and we can recognise the style of Andrea Scacciati.
This Florentine painter was the pupil of Mario Balassi and Lorenzo Lippi. For many years, he was the official painter to the Grand Duchess of Tuscany Vittoria della Rovere and often worked in partnership with Bartolomeo Bimbi, employed by the Medici, to create paintings of flowers and animals for the family collection.
His paintings, found in collections all over Europe, are also mentioned in the inventories of the Villa di Poggio Imperiale and many of his works were in the possession of Cosimo III de’ Medici, exhibited in the Villa della Topaia and the Villa dell’Ambrogiana. His still lifes with flowers stand out from those of Bimbi for their darker shadows, more brilliant colours and the typical use of 17th-century-style vases.
The painting presented here therefore appears to be a typical piece by this Florentine painter, who, along with Bimbi, was by far the best still life specialist in the city in the 17th century.