(Milan 1657–1700)
Carnations, roses, jasmine and other flowers with fruit on golden plates,
oil on canvas, 74 x 114 cm, framed

We are grateful to Andrea G. De Marchi for suggesting the attribution after examining the present painting in the original.

Francesca Volò Smiller, called Francesca Vicenzina, was a painter specialised in flower and fruit subjects and an important member of a numerous and prolific family of seventeenth century Milanese painters. Her father, the Italianised Frenchman, Vincenzo Volò, called Vincenzino dei Fiori (1601–1671) was the head of the family studio of painters, and in addition to employing Francesca, he also collaboratorated his brother, Giuseppe Volò (also called ‘Vincenzino’) and his sister Margherita Volò, the wife of the painter Ludovico Caffi.

Francesca’s works can be distinguished from those of her father which present more archaic symmetrical compositions, reflecting the influence of the early Spanish tradition. Her works show closer similarities to those of her brothers, but they retain distinctive traits such as the intense realism in the depiction of the flowers and fruit, and by the use of a prevalently cool crisp pallet, highlighted by touches of deep red, skillfully illuminated with touches of white and set off against dark backgrounds. Francesca’s rendering of flowers is especially notable for precise detailing and for her use of soft impastos.

The depiction of numerous jasmine flowers are typical of, and recurrent in, paintings by Francesca, as are the golden plates in the present painting, which also appear in her large signed still-life sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 30 January 1997, lot 220 (see A. Cottino, I fiori di Francesca. Nature morte di Francesca Vicenzina nella Milano del Seicento, Legnano 2007, p. 16 fig.1).