Lot 281: Francesco Della Questa ? circa 1639 - 1723 Naples , Still life with peaches and plums in a glass bowl, resting on a table with cherries and a snail

signed lower right Fra co Qe ta oil on canvas

measurements note 14 by 18 in.; 35.6 by 45.7 cm.

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF SAMUEL P. REED
De Dominici records that the artist was a pupil of Giovan Battista Ruoppolo, and although only a little firm information about his life can be documented, his tendency to sign his paintings (such as in the present case, in an abbreviated form), has given him a secure body of work that demonstrates a variety of influences and interests. He appears to have been well regarded enough to have been included in a list of still life painters drawn up by the Marques del Carpio, the viceroy and collector, who were asked to produce canvases for the "Festa dei Quattro Altari," a yearly celebration held outside of Naples. These included his master Ruoppolo, Giuseppe Recco, Luca Giordano and Abraham Brueghel (for a discussion of this commission, please see F. Bologna, Paesaggi e nature morte dall'Italia e dall'Europa de nord tra XVI e XVIII secolo, 1986, p. 110).