Circle of Giovanni Battista Ruoppolo (Naples, 1629 – 1697) Still Life with Fruit and Bird Oil on canvas, 62 x 83 cm The still life in question depicts succulent citrus fruits, including oranges and citrons, along with red berries scattered on the ground. A cheerful little bird is perched on the edge of a terracotta vase in which some pink-variegated carnations grow. The landscape that can be observed all around is veiled by clouds and shaded by shrubs, while in the distance there is a verdant hill. Dominating the foreground and standing out from the dark background is the fruit, which exuberantly and juicily excels in the vivacity of colors in contrast to the dark background. The full-bodied brushstroke that meticulously delineates the rough skin of the citrus fruits to restore the realism of the fruit, as the green leaves of the stems are sketched with extreme veracity, gently bent on themselves, ascribe the work to a painter working in the circle of Giovanni Battista Ruoppolo. Ruoppolo is a Neapolitan artist, specialized in the genre of still life, indeed De Dominici himself in his Lives of Neapolitan Painters, Sculptors and Architects recognizes him as having a primary role in the Neapolitan school of the genre. He studied, together with Giuseppe Recco (1634 -?), in the workshop of Paolo Porpora (1617 – 1673). He painted almost exclusively paintings of fruit and flowers. As a result of his relationship with the merchant Gasparo Romer, his works were also very successful abroad, particularly in Flanders, purchased, and consequently disseminated, by the Neapolitan patricians and aristocrats stationed there for business. His elegant style does not seek calligraphy or minute decorative taste but a refined and direct sense of reality, of Caravaggio descent. This ancestry is associated with his vibrant, lively and varied chromatic choice, capable of igniting the composition, also characterized by a deep and analytical search for detail. For a detailed comparison with the work, see Still Life with Citrus Fruits, Orange Blossoms and Parrot and Fruit and Vegetables in a Landscape presented on the market and of similar composition.