Francisco Perez Sierra

FRANCISCO PÉREZ SIERRA (Naples, c. 1627- 1709).
"Still life with flowers".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It presents Repainting and restorations on the pictorial surface.
It has adapted frame with cracks and damages.
Measurements: 80,5 x 60 cm; 91,5 x 70 cm (frame).
Fully baroque vase, following an open composition, with the circular and exuberant bouquet that was common in the work of the Spanish still life painters since the middle of the XVII century. The interest in the reality of Baroque painting, originally linked to religious approaches, led to the acquisition of an independent artistic category for a series of themes linked to nature, which until the end of the 16th century had only been represented accompanying traditional subjects, i.e. religious and mythological works and portraits. Flowers, fruits, landscapes, animals, etc., became in the Baroque period the absolute protagonists of paintings, being the still life the only one of the new themes that reached a certain relevance in 17th century Spain, more for its quality and originality than for its number. In this particular case, this link with a deeper approach of religious inspiration can be seen in the presence of the fallen petal on the table or the dead rose, indicative of the concept of "Tempus Fugit". While during the first half of the century the still life is orderly and clear, with a classicist aesthetic, the works of the second half of the century present very different characteristics, the result of the stylistic evolution towards the full baroque, leaving behind the dominant classicism of the beginning of the century. In works such as the one presented here, the taste for extreme naturalism is maintained, which leads the author to meticulously describe not only the details of the flowers, but also to transmit their different tactile qualities. This painting presents, however, formal features that correspond to a moment of transition between the naturalism of the beginning of the century. It is a dynamic composition in terms of the arrangement of the flowers, and they appear full, voluminous, in all their splendor. However, the recipient is placed in the strict center of the painting, on a simple parapet and in front of a dark background on which the flowers are cut out, vividly illuminated.

Francisco Pérez Sierra was a Neapolitan painter of Spanish origin. According to Antonio Palomino, he was the son of a Spanish general. He was a disciple of Aniello Falcone and Juan de Toledo. Among the many works he painted are the Immaculate Conception, painted in 1655 in the convent of the Trinitarians in Madrid, Saint Anne leading the Virgin, now in the Prado Museum, and Saint Joachim, now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Granada. He also painted Vase of Flowers around 1690 (oil on panel, 62x43 cm), now in the Royal Palace of Madrid.