Still life of peaches on a fruit stand with flowers

Fede Galizia was an Italian Renaissance painter of still-lifes, portraits, and religious pictures. She is especially noted as a painter of still lifes of fruit, a genre in which she was one of the earliest practitioners in European art. Galizia was a daughter of the miniaturist and painter Nunzio Galizia and she received her early training from her father in Milan. By the age of twelve she displayed a precocious talent, producing portraits that were highly praised and devotional compositions while in her teenage years. Like Clara Peeters (c. 1589–1657), her younger contemporary in the Netherlands, Fede was one of several female artists who would play a vital role in the emergence of the relatively new genre of still life. 

In this painting, an arrangement of softly modelled peaches casts velvety shadows across a shallow ground. While peaches and jasmine flowers feature in other still lifes by Fede Galizia, the tulip is far less common in her compositions.

P.S. Discover our masterpiece story on Fede Galizia's still life with delicious fruit composition and ... a grasshopper!

P.P.S. There is no surprise that Fede Galizia's work is featured in our Women Artists 50 Postcard Set. Check it out in our DailyArt Shop.  :)