Spanish painter (b. 1716, Napoli, d. 1780, Madrid)
Still-Life with Cantaloup Melon
Oil on canvas, 50 x 38 cm
Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid
Like the apple in the works of Baschenis and Cézanne, the melon - in numerous varieties - is a leitmotif that “rolls” through Meléndez’s still-lifes. One of the painter’s most sophisticated compositions is Still-Life with Cantaloup Melon, in which he proves himself a fanatic when it comes to rounded forms. He devotes himself to natural produce and man-made items with equal enthusiasm, piling them one behind or on top of the other and thereby filling the pictorial space. Plates, a white cloth, bread and a knife rise above the top of the woven basket into which they have been packed. The objects are painted in close-up and brought right to the front edge of the table, so that the melon curves forward into the space occupied by the viewer. The different surfaces are perfectly imitated and the painting of the melon skin, with its strikingly reticular texture, is astounding. Some objects reflect the light while others absorb it; light assumes the function of a sculptural material. A sense of spirited dynamism arises out of the alternate enlargement and reduction in scale of the pictorial objects.
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