Still Life with Oranges and Walnuts is on show behind the Red Lion on Brook Street
Still Life with Oranges and Walnuts, 1772
Luis Meléndez
Oil on canvas, 61 × 81.3 cm
Various foods and containers compete for space on a bare wooden shelf or table. A plate is piled high with walnuts, with chestnuts and oranges scattered nearby and a colossal melon behind. There are earthenware jugs, probably containing oil or wine, and a small barrel. The round boxes were normally used for storing cheese, the rectangular ones for sweets such as dulce de membrillo, a thick quince jelly eaten in slices.
The placement of these everyday objects might seem arbitrary, but Meléndez has arranged his composition carefully to lead our eye round the picture. Though the colour range is limited, the intense light emphasises the range of textures, from dimpled orange peel to the delicate woodgrain of the barrel and boxes. These qualities stand Meléndez’s still-life works apart from those of his contemporaries, and established him as the leading still-life painter of his generation.
Read more at NationalGallery.org.uk
Luis Meléndez
1716 – 1780
Luis Meléndez is regarded as the leading Spanish still-life painter of the 18th century. He was one of a family of painters, but his promising career in figure painting ran aground after his father’s dispute with the Academy in Madrid. He petitioned the King on two occasions to become a court painter, but failed to gain an official post, and died in poverty.