Michelangelo Cerquozzi o delle Battaglie (Roma 1602 - Roma 1660), Still life of grapes, pears, melons, and pomegranates

Oil on canvas cm. 70x85. Framed The painting is accompanied by an expertise by Prof. Giancarlo Sestieri.

This Still life of grapes, pears, melons, and pomegranates, focused on a vivid cluster of white grapes accompanied by a split pomegranate, a squash and a few other fruits loosely arranged on the ground, is attributed to Michelangelo Cerquozzi by Prof. Giancarlo Sestieri. 
The painting belongs to the Roman milieu, in a phase still close to post-Caravaggesque objectivism, evident in the strong plastic modeling achieved through an oblique light emerging from a dark background, while the freer compositional structure anticipates later Baroque developments. Datable to the late 1620s, the work represents an important example of Cerquozzi’s activity as a key mediator between early Roman still-life painting and its subsequent evolution. Private collection, Campania.