Antonio Ponce

ANTONIO PONCE (Valladolid, h. 1608-h. 1667)
"Still life".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 56 x 99 cm; 66 x 110 cm (frame).
Formally in this work highlights the delicate treatment of the different qualities and textures: the pot, the leaves of the branches of fruit, etc, qualities that are enhanced with the use of a completely dark background that supports greater three-dimensionality to food that make up this still life. work shows some tenebrist influence and lighting highlights the volumes in contrast to the shadows. The reduced palette favors earth tones enlivened with touches of reds, whites and yellows. Some of these characteristics recall the work of Loarte or the late period of Van der Hamen: an accumulation of objects that conveys a kind of confused disorganization, somewhat lighter backgrounds, fine tactile qualities, and the play of diagonals suggest a new consideration of the inert. A new consideration of the inert aspects of still life on the threshold of the growing dynamism of the Baroque. His technical mastery is undeniable, with a succession of flat brushstrokes intermittently interrupted by further touches that convey the reflection of the light entering from the left. As often with this artist, there is a curious way of delimiting the outlines of certain elements with thicker and more insistent strokes that underline their reality with greater vigor.
In 1624, Antonio Ponce entered as an apprentice in the workshop of Juan Van der Hamen, the most famous still life painter of the time. The influence of his master is revealed in his first paintings, with an arrangement on stone entablatures sometimes superimposed and the strong chiaroscuro lighting of Caravaggesque origin. As a still life painter he tackled a wide variety of subjects and formats, fruits and vegetables, as well as game and flowers, series of months and small cabinet paintings. From 1637 to 1638, Ponce worked in the Buen Retiro Palace (Madrid), built by King Philip IV. In July and August of 1649, he collaborated with a group of artists in the ephemeral decoration of the steps of the square and the stairs of the church of San Felipe el Real, as part of the celebrations of the entrance of Mariana of Austria. In the 1640s, he adopted lighter and brighter backgrounds that were tinged by soft hallmarks and a chromatic scale tending to gray.