The riches of the sea with Neptune, tritons and two nereids

The riches of the sea with Neptune, tritons and two nereids

The Artist
Giuseppe Recco was born into an intergenerational family workshop of still-life painters in 1634 in Naples [1]. Much of what is known about Giuseppe comes from Bernardo De Dominici’s Vite dei pittori, scultori ed architetti napoletani, which was published between 1742 and 1745 [2]. De Dominici knew Giuseppe personally, and he was known to occasionally exaggerate or distort Giuseppe’s achievements. Giuseppe’s father, Giacomo Recco (1603-1654), is considered one of the founders of still-life painting in Naples starting in the 1630s [3]. Within the Recco family workshop, it is likely that Giuseppe would have also worked with his assumed uncle, Giovan Battista Recco [4]. Claudia Salvi argues that Giuseppe’s uncle Giovan Battista likely influenced his paintings of food and dead animals, which are similar in styles to Giovan Battista’s own compositions [5]. It is in the Recco workshop, where Paolo Porpora also trained, where Giuseppe honed his painting skills and developed his painting style that has earned him much renown [6]. Giuseppe’s paintings demonstrate his mastery of a broad range of painting subjects, including flowers, marine fauna, vegetables, fruit, and kitchen items. Giuseppe Recco’s paintings varied in size and price range. Furthermore, Giuseppe’s work exemplifies Neapolitan still-life painting with his use of objects placed against a dark background or dark interior. The contrast between the sharp lighting on the objects and the dark background add to the dramatic and decadent characteristic of Neapolitan still-life paintings.

Giuseppe’s biographer, Bernardo De Dominici, argued that Giuseppe had gained high social prestige amongst aristocrats and bourgeois members of Naples. As stated by De Dominici, Giuseppe’s still-life paintings became highly sought after, as he had powerful patrons including the Marchese de los Vélez, viceroy of Naples from 1675 to 1682, and the Marchese del Carpio, viceroy of Naples from 1683 to 1687 [7]. De Dominici also claimed that Giuseppe had also become knighted and invited to paint for Charles II in Spain in 1695. However, Giuseppe died in 1695 shortly after the challenging journey to Alicante. De Dominici made bold claims of Giuseppe’s reputation, which some scholars dispute due to the lack of documentation to confirm his claims [8].

The riches of the sea with Neptune, tritons and two nereids
The riches of the sea with Neptune, tritons and two nereids was a collaborative painting between Giuseppe Recco and Luca Giordano [9]. This painting displays the monumental work and massive scale that Giuseppe worked on later in his career. Furthermore, this painting is an example of the instances where Giuseppe would collaborate with history painters. Prior to creating this work, Giuseppe had collaborated on a 185 by 237 centimeter painting with Giordano depicting various fish among a figure of a fisherman [10]. In the late 1660s, Giuseppe became known for larger and more highly valued compositions [11]. This earlier work was commissioned by the Marchese di Noja in 1669, as evidenced by a payment of a total of 100 ducats for the painting [12]. Christopher Marshall argues that the high price of this monumental still life painting with large scale figures demonstrates the higher financial valuation of still life paintings in Naples. Marshall cites Mario dei Fiori, a leading still life painter in seventeenth century Rome, as a comparison for Giuseppe’s work. Documentation shows that Mario dei Fiori was paid 20 scudi for contributions to a painting directly comparable with Giuseppe’s commission by the Marchese di Noja, which Giuseppe was paid five times more for in Neapolitan ducats [13]. This comparison demonstrates the higher regard by which still life paintings were held in Naples.

This high financial valuation of still life work can also be viewed in Giuseppe and Giordano’s The riches of the sea with Neptune, tritons and two nereids. This large scale oil on canvas painting measures 234.5 by 296.0 centimeters. The undated painting is signed with the monogram “l.r.” in the corner corner and initialed “R” in green paint [14]. The painting would have been created before 1684, as it was created for an exhibition of paintings held in Naples on May 25, 1684 [15]. This exhibition of contemporary paintings by Neapolitan artists was coordinated by Giordano to accompany celebrations of the 1684 Festa dei Quattro Altari. With the inclusion of fourteen large scale paintings that combined history painting and still life painting from various Neapolitan artists, the exhibition became massively successful. In fact, this painting served as a sort of advertisement for the bountiful resources of Naples and the painting skills of Giuseppe. Inventories show that this painting was probably a diplomatic gift sent by Marques del Carpio, the Neapolitan viceroy from 1683 to 1687, to the Spanish Royal Court [16]. Within ten years of the painting’s arrival in Madrid, in 1694, Giuseppe was invited to serve as a painter to the Spanish King Charles II [17]. This painting and its historical context demonstrate the positive reception and high economic valuation that Giuseppe’s works garnered both in Naples and internationally.

Luca Giordano and Giuseppe Recco

1684

Kayla Marr

Mary Overton Gift Fund 1997, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.

234.5 x 296.0 cm

painting; oil on canvas

Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
Painting

painting; oil on canvas

234.5 x 296.0 cm