FRANCESCO DELLA QUESTA (Naples, 1639 - 1723) LUCA GIORDANO(?) (Naples, 1634 - 1705) Still life with fish, crustaceans, tortoise, sea urchins and young fisherman Oil on canvas, 180X230 cm Provenance: Italy, private collection In this canvas, the gloomy setting and the oxidation of the paint pose a difficulty for interpretation. In particular, the figure is blurred, which is why the attribution to Giordano is assessed with due caution. Having said this, the painting expresses its illustrative felicity well, finding an excellent comparison with the Natura morta con pesci, molluschi e tartaruga (Still Life with Fish, Molluscs and Turtle) from the Sestieri collection, published by De Logu in 1962 and later argued by Luigi Salerno in 1984. Here too, the artist dedicates the foreground to the 'fish triumph' according to a leitmotiv of Neapolitan naturamortismo of the Baroque age that was so appreciated by patrons and the public alike. We can, in fact, clearly recognise every type of marine species silhouetted against the rocky seabed, and the general arrangement shows a syntactic rigour on a par with the best compositions by Recco and Ruoppolo, testifying to the high quality of the author, capable of handling large compositions with skill. Reference bibliography: B. De Dominici, Vite de pittori, scultori ed architetti napoletani 1742 -1745 (anastatic reprint of 1979), pp. 300-301 G. De Logu, La natura morta italiana, Bergamo 1962, pp. 149-196 L. Salerno, La natura morta italiana 1560-1805, Rome 1984, pp. 225-227 F. Bologna, Paesaggi e nature morte dall'Italia e dall'Europa del Nord tra XVI e XVIII secolo, Rome 1985, pp. 102-103, n. 50 R. Middione, in Ritorno al Barocco, exhibition catalogue edited by N. Spinosa. Naples 2009, pp. 422-425