Maximilian Pfeiler (active From 1683 To C.1721), Still Life Of Fruit

Maximilian Pfeiler (active from 1683 to c.1721)

Still life of fruit

Oil on canvas, 63 x 96.5 cm 

With frame, cm 87 x 118

Critical sheet Prof. Bocchi

The life of Maximilian Pfeiler is not well documented and there are few historical references about his activity. The few existing sources indicate that in 1683 he was a member of the Guild of Painters of Prague, his hometown, and a pupil of Christian Berentz (1658-1722), a painter of German origin who first travelled to the Netherlands and then settled in Rome, introducing in Italy northern European themes of the kind of still life in which he specialized. 

It is not clear whether Pfeiler’s pupil at Berentz is already in Rome, where the Czech artist has certainly been active since 1694, collaborating with Francesco Trevisani and Michele Rocca. Pfeiler thus manages to carve out a leading role in the Roman artistic scene of the late seventeenth - early eighteenth century, creating extravagant and recognizable compositions of fruits and flowers much appreciated by illustrious men: For example, some of his works were part of the collection of Cardinal Fesch. 

The painting in question is an example of the quality of Pfeiler’s typical production and shows the debts towards his master Berentz as well as the other foreign artists established in Rome specialized in still life. 

As already in the compositions of Tamm or Vogelaer as a background to the still life there is a colonnade with architrave surmounted by statues, suggesting a Roman setting between the last quarter of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the next and introducing that taste towards the ancient ruins that will consolidate in that period.

The following still life, made up of fruits, vegetables and birds, was partly set up on a shelf covered by an elegant turquoise fabric with golden fringes, from which a bag of handles filled with fruits of various types has been overturned. Every element is described with extreme technical skill and attention to detail: it should be observed in this sense the particular of the glass of wine in crystal, perfectly rendered in its transparency and fragility; the pulp of melons open with the seeds in evidence; the sheen and texture of the fabric that covers the table top; the meticulous and descriptive realism with which each fruit (grapes, peaches, oranges, melons, pomegranates, cherries) and vegetables are depicted. To a more careful analysis we can see that the various fruits depicted do not belong to the same seasonality, element that would suggest that the artist has made some of them without a model from life, but painting them by heart still obtaining a general effect of great naturalism. 

Worthy of note is also the immense skill of the Czech artist in terms of color combinations: the orange accents of melons and oranges are enhanced by the complementary turquoise predominant in the tablecloth. These combinations expand the effect of three-dimensionality already given by the chiaroscuro contrasts that wisely balance the most striking colors. 

Pfeiler in the work analyzed, as well as in other compositions such as still life in the Genoese private collection, shows the debts towards his master Berentz. This can be seen in the great variety of fruits and flowers described and especially in their filling almost completely the available space. 

The latest news of Maximilian Pfeiler are attested to 1721. He spent most of his life in Rome, enjoying some success and appreciation from contemporaries, both artists and collectors.

The object is in good condition

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