Still-Life with Figs

In 1753, after four years in the Eternal City, Mel�ndez was recalled by his father to assist with a prestigious commission from Ferdinand VI to illuminate a new set of choir books for the Royal Chapel, to replace those lost in the fire of the Alc�zar in 1734. Despite the high acclaim which his illuminations (which show early signs of his skilful depiction of inanimate objects) received at court, Luis’ subsequent four petitions to be appointed royal painter were declined by Charles III. It seems likely that Mel�ndez’s archaic miniaturist style and lack of experience beyond that specialised work counted against him, at a time when the royal court required artists adept in producing large-scale works in fresco and canvas (such as Corrado Giaquinto) to decorate the new Palacio Real, as well as proven portrait painters to promote the recent accesion of Charles III in 1759. On completion of his royal illuminations it appears that Mel�ndez received no further commissions at court and as a result the artist began to turn in desperation to the subject which ironically would earn him enduring international fame - still-life painting.

It is no co-incidence therefore that the artist’s earliest known still-lifes date from around 1759-60. Despite the important tradition of still-life painting during the Spanish Golden Age, the genre had dramatically declined by the second half of the 18th century, with none of the court painters being regular practicioners of the art. For Mel�ndez, still-lifes were a relatively easy commodity to sell, and would typically have been painted on speculation of finding a buyer (rather than on commission). It seems that during the 1760s and 1770s he largely cornered the market in Madrid, being the only significant still-life painter working there at that time.