Peaches, melons, plums, figs, lillies, roses, and other flowers with a glass carafe

Abraham Breughel was the most talented and sucessful son of Jan Breughel II. He was trained by his father, who sold a small flower painting by his son when Abraham was fifteen-years old. Not long afterward, Abraham traveled to Italy, settling in Rome, where he quickly established a reputation for his still lifes. Already in 1649 an inventory of his patron, Prince Antonio Ruffo, records nine flower paintings by the eighteen-year-old artist. His pictures clearly reveal the influence of his Italian contemporaries such as Michelangelo Campidoglio and Michelangelo Cerquozzi, yet maintain the firmness of composition and clarity of detail associated with his Northern heritage. In the 1670's, Breughel moved to Naples, where he remained for the rest of his career.

The present composition is quite close to the Still life of fruit and flowers that was formerly with Galleria Gasparrini, Rome, which is signed and dated 1675 (see F. Zeri, ed., La natura morta in Italia, Milan, 1989, II, pp. 794-795, no. 937). We are grateful to Ludovica Trezzani for providing the attribution on the basis of photographs and to Fred Meijer of the RKD in The Hague for confirming it on the basis of photographs (private communication, 20 April 2012).