Painting of the Month

Sitting at home staring at the walls?

Why not stare at this wicker basket piled high with fruit instead? A rendition of Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit!

Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit was first mentioned in 1607 in the will of Cardinal Federico Borromeo and subsequently in the 1618 inventory of the donation of his painting collection to The Biblioteca Ambrosiana.

Borromeo probably purchased Basket of Fruit directly from Caravaggio in Rome or received it as a gift from Cardinal Del Monte, a leading art connoisseur in Rome and an early patron of Caravaggio.

Radiographs have revealed under Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit the canvas had already been used. The painting depicted a grotesque motif that has been plausibly attributed to one of Caravaggio’s “henchmen” Prospero Orsi (Prosperino delle Grotesche). The painters were closely associated in the early 1590’s in Rome.

Caravaggio specialised in still life and later in half-length figures, his revolutionary style capturing the lighting strike moment in his magnificent paintings. It was a pleasure to paint a copy of this piece as he remains my all-time art hero.

Basket of Fruit by David Henty £24,995

Oil on Board 24” x 16”

Florentine carved gilt frame size 32” x 24”