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Boy Peeling Fruit (Caravaggio)
Encyclopedia
Boy Peeling Fruit is a painting by the Italian
Baroque
master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
(1571–1610) painted circa 1592-1593.
This is the earliest known work by Caravaggio, painted soon after his arrival in Rome from his native Milan
in mid 1592. His movements in this period are not certain. According to his contemporary Giulio Mancini he stayed for a short time with Monsignor Pandulfo Pucci in the Palazzo Colonna, but disliked the way Pucci treated him and left after a few months. (Pucci fed his boarders exclusively on greens, and Caravaggio referred to him later as 'Monsignor Salad'). He copied religious pictures for Pucci, (none survive), and apparently did a few pieces of his own for personal sale, of which Boy Peeling a Fruit would be the only known example. The piece may also date from slightly later, when he was working for Giuseppe Cesari
, the "cavaliere d'Arpino". As Caravaggio is said to have been painting only "flowers and fruit" for d'Arpino, this would again be a personal piece done for sale outside the workshop, but it was among the works seized from d'Alpino by Cardinal Scipione Borghese
in 1607, together with two other early Caravaggios, the Young Sick Bacchus and the Boy with a Basket of Fruit - it is not known how these works came to be in Cesari's collection at the time.
The fruit being peeled by the boy is something of a mystery. Sources indicate it may be a pear
, which is probably correct but has been questioned; it may be a nectarine or plum
, several of which lie on the table, but these are not usually peeled; some have suggested a bergamot
, a pear-shaped citrus fruit grown in Italy, but others object that the bergamot is sour and practically inedible.
Seen as a simple genre painting, it differs from most in that the boy is not 'rusticated,' that is, he is depicted as clean and well-dressed instead of as a 'cute' ragamuffin. An allegoric meaning behind the painting is plausible, given the complex Renaissance
symbology of fruit. Caravaggio scholar John T. Spike has recently suggested that the boy demonstrates resistance to temptation by ignoring the sweeter fruits (fruits of sin) in favour of the bergamot, but no specific reading is widely accepted.
The model is thought to bear a resemblance to the angel in Caravaggio's Ecstasy of Saint Francis and to the boy dressed as Cupid on the far left in his Young Musicians, both about 1595 to 1597.
The work survives in several copies. In 1996 John T. Spike identified the likely original in a painting auctioned in London that year ; its present location is in the British Royal Collection.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
(1571–1610) painted circa 1592-1593.
This is the earliest known work by Caravaggio, painted soon after his arrival in Rome from his native Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
in mid 1592. His movements in this period are not certain. According to his contemporary Giulio Mancini he stayed for a short time with Monsignor Pandulfo Pucci in the Palazzo Colonna, but disliked the way Pucci treated him and left after a few months. (Pucci fed his boarders exclusively on greens, and Caravaggio referred to him later as 'Monsignor Salad'). He copied religious pictures for Pucci, (none survive), and apparently did a few pieces of his own for personal sale, of which Boy Peeling a Fruit would be the only known example. The piece may also date from slightly later, when he was working for Giuseppe Cesari
Giuseppe Cesari
Giuseppe Cesari was an Italian Mannerist painter, also named Il Giuseppino and called Cavaliere d'Arpino, because he was created Cavaliere di Cristo by his patron Pope Clement VIII. He was much patronized in Rome by both Sixtus V.-Biography:Cesari's father had been a native of Arpino, but...
, the "cavaliere d'Arpino". As Caravaggio is said to have been painting only "flowers and fruit" for d'Arpino, this would again be a personal piece done for sale outside the workshop, but it was among the works seized from d'Alpino by Cardinal Scipione Borghese
Scipione Borghese
Scipione Borghese was an Italian Cardinal, art collector and patron of the arts. A member of the Borghese family, he was the patron of the painter Caravaggio and the artist Bernini...
in 1607, together with two other early Caravaggios, the Young Sick Bacchus and the Boy with a Basket of Fruit - it is not known how these works came to be in Cesari's collection at the time.
The fruit being peeled by the boy is something of a mystery. Sources indicate it may be a pear
Pear
The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....
, which is probably correct but has been questioned; it may be a nectarine or plum
Plum
A plum or gage is a stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus, subgenus Prunus. The subgenus is distinguished from other subgenera in the shoots having a terminal bud and solitary side buds , the flowers in groups of one to five together on short stems, and the fruit having a groove running down one...
, several of which lie on the table, but these are not usually peeled; some have suggested a bergamot
Bergamot
Bergamot may refer to:*The Bergamot orange*Monarda, genus of herbs of similar odor to the Bergamot orange; in particular**Monarda didyma, called Bergamot, Scarlet Beebalm, Scarlet Monarda, Oswego Tea, or Crimson Beebalm...
, a pear-shaped citrus fruit grown in Italy, but others object that the bergamot is sour and practically inedible.
Seen as a simple genre painting, it differs from most in that the boy is not 'rusticated,' that is, he is depicted as clean and well-dressed instead of as a 'cute' ragamuffin. An allegoric meaning behind the painting is plausible, given the complex Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
symbology of fruit. Caravaggio scholar John T. Spike has recently suggested that the boy demonstrates resistance to temptation by ignoring the sweeter fruits (fruits of sin) in favour of the bergamot, but no specific reading is widely accepted.
The model is thought to bear a resemblance to the angel in Caravaggio's Ecstasy of Saint Francis and to the boy dressed as Cupid on the far left in his Young Musicians, both about 1595 to 1597.
The work survives in several copies. In 1996 John T. Spike identified the likely original in a painting auctioned in London that year ; its present location is in the British Royal Collection.
Sources and references
- Caravaggio's fruit
- Caravaggio's secular paintings
- Peter RobbPeter RobbPeter Robb is an Australian author.Robb spent his formative years in Australia and New Zealand, and between 1978 and 1992 he spent most of his time in Naples and southern Italy, interspersed with sojourns in Brazil. At the end of 1992 he returned to Sydney.His first book, Midnight in Sicily, was...
, MM (book)M is a book by Australian author Peter Robb about the Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. First published in 1998 in Australia by Duffy & Snellgrove, the book provoked controversy on its being published in Britain in 2000....
(1998) [ISBN 0-312-27474-2][ISBN 0-7475-4858-7]