Full Record

Previously attributed to Zuccarelli, this painting was purchased by Mrs Goodwin and her husband in Siena at the breaking up of the monasteries. In a letter from Mrs Goodwin to Tullie House at the time of the gift (6 February 1889) she explains that the food displayed in this work is 'the food allowed to be eaten by Roman Catholics during fasting days'. A visiting Italian wanted it noted that he believed the work to be by a Neopolitan artist G. Recco, but this was never given as an attribution A detailed biography of Bartolomeo Bimbi compiled by Francesco Saverio Baldinucci just a few months before the death of the artist in 1729 provides a quite complete picture of Bimbi's life and work. With the patronage of the Medici family he began to specialise in still-life paintings - flowers, plants, animals, seashells and occasionally weapons and musical instruments. His highly original compositions and innovative techniques made a significant contribution to the genre. Under the rule of the Medici, interest in the natural sciences and in naturalistic representation flourished, and it is within this culture that Bartolomeo Bimbi's scientific approach to the documentation of still-life subjects found a ready market. While much of his prodigious output went to decorate the many villas owned by the Medici family, his clients also included other noble, wealthy Florentine families. He also produced large-scale canvases for the Villa della Topaia documenting the extraordinary variety of fruits (many of which have since disappeared) that were cultivated in the gardens of the Grand Duke. The individual subjects of these works are all numbered with reference to an inscription in which the various species are listed with their scientific names. His paintings for the Medici, depicting freshly killed game, or zoological and teratological subjects were displayed at the Villa dell'Ambrogiana.

A convincing alternative attribution to Master S.B. has been made by Dr John T. Spike (2011).