Italian school; 17th century.

Italian school; XVII century.
"Still life of fish".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has a frame of the seventeenth century.
Measurements: 34 x 63 cm; 40,5 x 70 cm (frame).
The author of this work raises the point of view of the spectator in such a way that the perspective is high, thus creating a zenithal view that allows a better appreciation of the only element that makes up this still life. A single fish is placed on an austere wooden table, enveloped in a half-light on which the silver of the scales stands out as the only point of light, which is enhanced by a directed illumination that brings three-dimensionality to the fish. Despite the apparent simplicity of the work, defined by the economy of means, the use of a high perspective, already mentioned, and the way in which the author arranges the fish diagonally indicate a great technical skill and a wide knowledge of baroque taste.
During the 17th century there was a growing demand for paintings to decorate the houses of the bourgeoisie. Apart from portraits and large canvases with religious, historical or mythological themes, artists specialized, painting medium-sized works that gradually increased in format, with still lifes, animals, landscapes and genre scenes. The paintings that reproduce collectors' cabinets of the time are explicit in this regard, to the point of originating a new autonomous pictorial genre. It was the still life genre that best adapted to this new taste, perhaps because of its apparent thematic kindness and the lack of moral implications or double readings regarding the representation. However, the evolution of the genre itself increased the symbolic content of still lifes.