Permanent Collection

1600–1700

WORKSABOUT THE PERIODARTISTS

WORKS

Luca Forte

(Naples, 1600/1605 − before 1670)

Fruit
(c. 1640), oil, canvas, 58 x 76 cm

NG S 809, National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana

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This picture, which must surely once have had a pendant of the same shape and size, shows different types of fruit: cherries, peaches, figs and pears. It must be noted that the fruits painted here mature at different seasons of the year: beside spring fruit (cherries) we see summer fruit (peaches and plums), autumn fruit (figs) and winter fruit (pears). This is thus in all likelihood an allegory of the four seasons, symbolised by characteristic fruit.

The style of the painting and the type of fruit are characteristic of Luca Forte, in particular the way in which a strong light of decidedly Caravaggesque origin determines the forms of the objects. The time of origin of this excellent painting is still uncertain, but it should be dated around 1640, or even a little earlier.

Preservation: Good. The octagonal painting was at one time changed into a rectangular one.
Restored: 1970, Štefan Hauko. A new stretcher in the original size.
Provenance: LBG, Graz, No. 234, up to 1903; entrusted to the Dobrna spa for the furnishing of the premises; entrusted to the Narodna galerija, Ljubljana in 1932, old Inv. No. 452 (end 17C).
Exhibitions: 1983, Ljubljana, No. 9; 1985, Belgrade, No. 6; 1989, Ljubljana, No. 3.
Lit: Zeri [& Rozman] 1983, p. 106, Cat. No. 9, Fig. 8; Zeri and Rozman 1989, pp. 89, 101, 111, Cat. and Fig. No. 3.

ABOUT THE PERIOD

From Mannerism to Baroque

Although imported early-Baroque works prevailed in this period and those by itinerant artists, the 17th century paved the way for the future. The political circumstances in the region were relatively stabilized in spite of the Thirty Year War and the patronage gradually grew stronger. The arrival of the Jesuits in Ljubljana, the activity of the polymath Johann Weichard Valvasor, particularly his graphic workshop at Bogenšperk/Wagensperg Castle, and the foundation of the Academia operosorum at the end of the century were the key events of the time.

Characteristic of sculptural production on the Slovenian territory in the 17th century were the so-called “golden altars”. As a rule, these were gilded and polychrome carved wooden retables with rich ornamentation, first with crustaceous patterns which turned into vine and grapes that covered architectural framework until the achantus foliage took over and obliterated architectural structure completely. The making of golden altars included several branches of fine arts: prints, carving, gilding, painting. Religious painting of the first half of the century still contains Mannerist elements; in the second half also secular motifs became more numerous, particularly genre scenes and aristocratic portraits. The artworks mainly echo northern early-Baroque influences.

Noteworthy among the newcomers who settled in Carniola with their workshops were the painter and gilder Hans Georg Geiger von Geigerfeld in the mid-century, who had moved to Carniola from the region of the Central Alps, and the Fleming Almanach in the third quarter of the 17th century, known only by his nickname, who worked here only for a few years. The extraordinary productivity and skills of the latter are evidenced by his rare surviving works, mentions in Valvasor’s books, and aristocratic probate inventories.

ARTISTS

Owner	Birth - death
Francesco Pittoni	(Venice, ca 1654 − after 1724)
Joannes Almenak	(Antwerpen ?, ca 1640/45 – after 1684)
Anonymous	-
Alvise (Luigi) Benfatto	(Verona, 1554 – Venice, 1609)
Bartolomeo Bettera	(Bergamo, 1639 – ?, after 1688)
Antonio Calza	(Verona, 1653–1725)
Giovanni Andrea Carlone	(Genoa, 1639−1697)
Giacomo Francesco Cipper	(Feldkirchen, 1664 – Milan, 1736)
Giovanni Stefano Danedi	(Treviglio, 1618? − Milan?, 1690)
Giuseppe Diamantini	(Fossombrone, 1621–1705)
Felice Ficherelli	(San Gimignano, 1603 – Florence, 1660)
Frans Francken II	(Antwerp, 1581–1642)
Hans Georg Geiger von Geigerfeld	(?, c. 1610 – Zagreb, 1681)
Luca Giordano	(Naples, 1634–1705)
Janez Frančišek Gladič	(Rijeka, 1635 – Ljubljana?, 1663)
Eberhart Keilhau	(Helsingør, 1624 − Rome, 1687)
Gregorio Lazzarini	(Venice, 1655 – Villabona Veronese, 1730)
Pietro Liberi	(Padua, 1605 – Venice, 1687)
Maestro Jacopo	-
Pieter Mulier	(Haarlem, 1637 – Milan, 1701)
Jacob Pynas	(Haarlem, c. 1585 − after 1650)
Carl Ruthart	(Danzig, c. 1630 – L'Aquila, c. 1703)
Jacob van Kerckhoven	(Antwerp, c. 1637 – Venice, after 1712)
Peter van Kessel	(Antwerp, ? – Ratzeburg, 1668)
Otto van Veen	(Leiden, 1556 – Brussels, 1629)
Herman Verelst	The Hague, 1641/1642 − London, 1702)
Giuseppe Vicenzino	(active 2nd half 17th cent.)