Still Life with Fish and Vessels

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The painting shows not only fish, some of which lie in a little basket, but also various vessels for water, the most interesting of which is a large richly ornamented metal amphora, like those used for drinking water. The random, almost disorderly arrangement of the various objects suggests that this is a kitchen scene. The attribution of the painting to Giuseppe Recco is based on comparisons with many of the painter’s signed works; in fact this is one of his best and most splendid works, which is still derived from a Caravaggesque perception of light. The picture was probably painted around the year 1670, if not even later.

Artist Giuseppe Recco

Year of creation circa 1670

Technique oil, canvas

Dimensions 97 x 131 cm

Inventory number NG S 1125, National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana

Restored: 1980, Kemal Selmanović. Relining and a new stretcher.
Provenance: Collection of Count Ignaz Attems; LBG, Graz, No. 62; transferred to the Rogaška Slatina spa to furnish the rooms, 1903; Narodna galerija, 1932, old Inv. No. 414 (Dutch, 17C?).
Exhibitions: 1983, Ljubljana, No. 15; 1985, Belgrade, No. 10; 1989, Ljubljana, No. 4.
Lit.: Zeri [& Rozman] 1983, p. 110, Cat. and Fig. No. 15; Zeri and Rozman 1989, pp. 102, 103, 111–112, Cat. and Fig. No. 4.
Note: On the back of the original canvas the inscription: LBG 62.