Majorcan school; second half of the XVII century.

Majorcan school; second half of the seventeenth century.
"Couple of still lifes".
Oil on canvas.
Measurements: 91 x 125,5 cm (x2); 113 x 147,5 cm (frames, x2).
This pair of still lifes, characteristic of the style of the Majorcan school of the XVII century, offers a detailed representation of the still life, enriched with decorative elements that suggest a garden environment. Both paintings, although different in composition, maintain a thematic symmetry by including flowers, fruits and architectural elements. One of them focuses on a large floral composition, where flowers of various colors and shapes are arranged in a vase with an exuberant air. White and red tulips, roses in pastel shades, and small clusters of blue and yellow flowers are balanced against a background of dark branches and leaves that highlight the vibrant coloring of the flowers. At the bottom, yellow fruits, probably citrons or quinces, rest on a marble shelf. In the background, a classical fountain with flowing water adds a touch of dynamism and depth to the painting, while roses and other plants climb around the pedestal. In the other still life a similar composition of flowers is on the left, where again tulips, roses and other wildflowers predominate, this time accompanied by large sunflowers that add a more rustic texture. The fruits in the foreground look like lemons, carefully placed next to the floral bouquet. What distinguishes this painting is the presence of a large red parrot perched on a branch, which adds an element of life and exoticism to the whole. The architecture of the fountain in the background is more elaborate, with steps and cascading water, while climbing plants frame the scene.
Both pieces stand out for their baroque atmosphere, with saturated colors and meticulous attention to detail, conveying a sense of luxury and connection with nature, while revealing the Mediterranean influence in their composition and selection of elements.
The Mallorcan school of still lifes shows a strong influence of the Valencian school, although it had its own personality and must have enjoyed a certain importance, given the number of works that have survived to the present day. It developed mainly from the late seventeenth century and during the eighteenth century, from the appearance of the figure of Guillermo Mesquida (1625-1747), which will raise the level of Mallorcan painting. He was the most famous painter of the Balearic Baroque and absolute dominator of the artistic panorama between the end of the XVII and the first half of the XVIII. He was an excellent painter of still lifes, although we do not preserve today not a single one of them that we can attribute to him with absolute certainty. His biographers indicate that he was a disciple in Rome of the Italian Carlos Marata, a painter who had great influence in the development of still life, since he collaborated with numerous specialists of this genre. Mesquida represented in his works fruits, animals and flowers, and founded in Mallorca a workshop in which numerous works would be made, some of which are still preserved today. His style would have been characterized by a great chromatic richness and a clear ostentatiousness and abundance of fruit and floral elements, traits that his followers of the Majorcan school would inherit, as can be seen in this canvas. Thanks to Mesquida's influence, the Mallorcan still life painters picked up Italian elements, especially Neapolitan and Roman, always combined with the influence of the Valencian school.