Still-Life with Cantaloup Melon

1765 · Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid

still-life

Like the apple in the works of Baschenis and Cézanne, the melon - in numerous varieties - is a leitmotif that "rolls" through Meléndez's still-lifes. One of the painter's most sophisticated compositions is Still-Life with Cantaloup Melon, in which he proves himself a fanatic when it comes to rounded forms. He devotes himself to natural produce and man-made items with equal enthusiasm, piling them one behind or on top of the other and thereby filling the pictorial space.

Loading map…

About the Artist

Luis Meléndez

1716 – 1780

Spanish still-life painter, active mainly in Madrid. He is regarded as the finest Spanish painter in his speciality in the 18 th century continuing the austere traditions of the 'bodegón' established by Sanchez Cotán, as well as Velázquez and Zurbarán. He is sometimes called 'the Spanish Chardin' but he spent much of his life in poverty. He was trained by his father and L. M. van Loo in Spain. He was van Loo's assistant 1742-48. He worked in Madrid and revisited Italy before 1775. His work is rare outside Spain, but there is an example in the National Gallery in London and the Louvre in Paris has a striking self-portrait, signed and dated 1746. The self-portrait is his earliest known work, in which he looks younger than thirty.

View all works →