George Lance (Little Easton 1802 - Birkenhead 1864) - Triumph of fruit with Persian carpet, 1863

Lot description

oil on canvas cm 142.5 x 112.5 signed and dated lower left: G. Lance / 1863 on the back, handwritten labels with reference to the work and the artist This painting is an outstanding example of the painting skills of the British George Lance. A painter as famous for his still lifes as for his miniatures, he has captured the best of both worlds in this canvas: on one side the composition is dominated by the triumph of grapes and other typical fruit of the season between summer and autumn, virtuosicly portrayed. On the left, instead, a precious object is depicted, a sort of profane relic holder, on the base of which and above the part depicting an angel are small panels with still lifes and portraits. The four portraits at the top and the one immediately above the angel are real miniatures applied to the canvas, of which the largest is nothing other than a self-portrait of the artist himself depicted in the act of painting a still life. A proud assertion of his talent in both genres, this small self-portrait thus becomes a painting within a painting, directly linking back to the Flemish tradition whose legacy Lance inherited.