Glass Tazza with Peaches, Jasmine Flowers and Quinces

In a time when women artists faced major social and institutional barriers to their success, the visionary Fede Galizia built an impressive career. She took on important commissions and helped pioneer the genre of still life as we know it. Here, everyday objects take on the drama and emotion of a narrative scene. Manipulating volume and light, Galizia visually harmonizes hefty fruit with the apparent weightlessness of jasmine flowers and the fragility of a delicate glass vessel. Hair-thin highlights articulate the edges of the jagged, curling leaves, and a halved quince, brilliantly observed, appears to brown right before our eyes.