Still-Life with Plate of Apples and Orange Blossom

1640 · Private collection

still-life

The authorship of this still-life painting remains uncertain. It has been considered a work by Francisco de Zurbarán. The almost geometrical roundness and sharply delineated contours of the apples are reminiscent of Zurbarán's treatment of the fruit in some of his still-lifes while the motif of fruit on a reflective silver or pewter plate appears in the paintings of both Zurbarán and his son Juan.

About the Artist

Juan de Zurbarán

1620 – 1649

Painter, son of Francisco de Zurbarán. He was brought up in Llerena in the prosperous household of his father and stepmother, Dona Beatriz de Morales, and he was later trained by his father in Seville. Although he is known to have painted religious works on commission, Juan de Zurbarán seems to have specialized in still-lifes, for his only certain works are in this genre. Socially he was somewhat pretentious, partial to such courtly pastimes as the dance, and using the aristocratic 'Don' when signing his name. In 1644 he married Mariana de Quadros, daughter of a wealthy money-lender.

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