GIUSEPPE RUOPPOLO (Naples, 1631 - 1710) Still life with grapes, peaches, figs and carnations Oil on canvas, 100.5X121.5 cm Provenance: Atlanta, Ray Ketcham Gallery (from label on verso) Ancient sources indicate him as a nephew of Giovanni Battista Ruoppolo (Naples, 1629 ; 1693) and also a specialist in the still life genre. Often confused with Giuseppe Recco, with whom he shares initials, the first philological distinction and catalogue construction concerning the painter is due to Raffaello Causa on the occasion of the famous exhibition on Italian still life in 1964. Subsequent studies by Ferdinando Bologna (C.f. F. Bologna, Natura in posa (Italia XVI-XIX secolo), Bergamo 1968, fig. 49) and again by Causa (C.f. R. Causa, La natura morta a Napoli nel Sei e Settecento, in Storia di Napoli, Cava dei Tirreni 1972, V-2, pp. 1016-1044) made it possible to partially define his personality and stylistic evolution. Moreover, it was De Dominici himself who indicated that Giuseppe, in addition to being a skilful naturamortista, was also very close to Giovanni Battista, particularly during his youth (B. De Dominici, Vite de' Pittori, Scultori, ed Architetti Napoletani, Naples 1742, vol. III, p. 299). In our case, one immediately perceives the 'modernity' of the work, which is very baroque in its outcome. We thank Alberto Cottino for the attribution. Reference bibliography: N. Spinosa, La natura morta a Napoli, in F. Zeri, F. Porzio, La natura morta in Italia, Milan 1989, vol. II, pp. 852-871 R. Middione, Giuseppe Ruoppolo, in La natura morta in Italia, edited by F. Porzio and F. Zeri, I, Milan 1989, pp. 923-925 G. De Vito, Giuseppe Ruoppoli(o) contemporaneo di Giovanni Battista, in Ricerche sul '600 napoletano. Saggi e documenti 2005, Naples 2005, pp. 7-26 D. M. Pagano, Return to the Baroque. Da Caravaggio a Vanvitelli exhibition catalogue edited by N. Spinosa, Naples 2009, I, p. 418, no. 1.246 G. De Vito, È Giuseppe Ruoppolo il GRV monogrammista?, in Ricerche sul '600 napoletano. Saggi e documenti 2009, Naples 2009, pp. 59-70