Panfilo Nuvolone

With Silvano Lodi, Campione d'Italia;
Anonymous sale, Milan, Porro & C., 12 October 2004, lot 206.

New York, National Academy of Design; Tulsa, Philbrook Art Center; Dayton, Dayton Art Institute, Italian still life paintings from three centuries, 2 February 1982 - 11 September 1983, no. 6;
Berlin, Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Natura morta italiana: Italienische Stillebenmalerei aus drei Jahrhunderten, Sammlung Silvano Lodi, 6 September - 27 October 1985, no. 18;
Milan, Palazzo Reale, Natura Morta Lombardia, 1 December 1999 - 2 April 2000, no. 13;
Turin, Fondazione Accorsi, L'incantesimo dei sensi: una collezione di nature morte del Seicento per il Museo Accorsi, 30 November 2005 - 1 May 2006,, no. 2. 

J.T. Spike, Italian still life paintings from three centuries, Florence 1983, pp. 33-35, cat. no. 6, reproduced p. 35 (as on panel);
L. Salerno, La natura morta italiana, 1560-1805, Rome 1984, pp. 62-63, reproduced fig. 16.2;
P. Lorenzelli and A. Veca, Forma vera: contributi a una storia della natura morta italiana, exhibition catalogue, Bergamo 1985, p. 156, reproduced fig. 59;
L. Salerno, Natura morta italiana: Italienische Stillebenmalerei aus drei Jahrhunderten, Sammlung Silvano Lodi, exhibition catalogue, Florence 1985, pp. 56-57, cat. no. 18, reproduced;
A. Morandotti, "Panfilo Nuvolone," in F. Zeri, ed., La natura morta in Italia, Milan 1989, vol. I, p. 226 (as not by Panfilo Nuvolone);
G. Bocchi and U. Bocchi, Naturaliter: nuovi contributi alla natura morta in Italia settentrionale e Toscana tra XVII e XVIII secolo, Casalmaggiore 1998, pp. 18, reproduced fig. 3;
A. Magnani, in F. Caroli, ed.,  La natura morta lombarda, exhibition catalogue, Milan 1999, pp. 88-89, cat. no. 13, reproduced;
A. Cottino,  L'incantesimo dei sensi: una collezione di nature morte del Seicento per il Museo Accorsi, exhibition catalogue, Turin 2005, pp. 36-37, 98, cat. no. 2, reproduced.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work has been restored. The canvas is lined with a non-wax adhesive. The surface is stable. The paint layer is varnished, but probably slightly dirty. No retouches are visible under ultraviolet light except for a few spots in the dark background. The fruit in the still life itself seems to be well preserved. There may be some older restorations beneath a varnish that reads opaquely under ultraviolet light, but the condition seems to be good overall. The work can be hung as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Painted with exquisite order and sensitivity, this beautiful still life of peaches, figs, and a pumpkin is among the most refined and detailed works by Panfilo Nuvolone.  The composition is imbued with golden and silvery tones, highlighted in spots with touches of green, including a faint reflection of a green leaf on the left rim of the metal stand.  Born in Cremona, Panfilo Nuvolone is documented in Milan from 1610, working in the Lombard capital during the lush artistic environment fostered by its archbishop, Cardinal Federico Borromeo.  Under Borromeo, the arts and sciences of all genres flourished, and still life was championed by the female artist, Fede Galizia.  Nuvolone’s tactile compositions bear the influence of Fede, and his works are often mistaken for those of the female artist.  While models could have been exchanged between their two workshops, it seems likely that the young Nuvolone took inspiration from Fede's compositions but distinguished himself from the older artist by rendering his works with a distinct degree of monumentality and marked naturalism.