Giovanna Garzoni
Only if examined with a magnifying glass do the works of Giovanna Garzoni fully reveal the artist's incredible mastery in rendering even the smallest detail of the compositions of fruit and flowers with meticulousness and precision.
Cherries were one of Garzoni's favorite fruits and she painted them in different versions, including this still life with a plate of cherries and two carnations. In this composition, the carmine and vermilion red fruits are so succulent that they almost seem to stain the mottled carnation placed next to them.
Giovanna Garzoni was at the Grand Ducal court of Tuscany from 1642 to 1651; we know from the Medici inventories that Ferdinando II de' Medici requested a cycle of 20 small still lifes on parchment for his wife, the Grand Duchess Vittoria della Rovere. Each still life included a large number of fruits or vegetables arranged on a plate, accompanied by other fruits, flowers, and sometimes insects or small animals.
The Grand Duke and his wife were both enthusiastic patrons of the artist. For Garzoni's reference, she received a regular supply of freshly picked fruit to portray the products of the earth at their best freshness. The abundant production of the Medici gardens thus became her main source of inspiration and the Grand Duke decided to give the painter a monthly salary for her still life compositions.