Caravaggio (Italian, 1571 – 1610)
Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan
The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana was established in April 1618, when Cardinal Federico Borromeo donated his collection of paintings, drawings and statues to the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, which he had founded in 1607. The museum consists of 24 rooms, where visitors can admire some of the greatest masterpieces of all time, and one of those is the Basket of Fruit or Canestra di Frutta by Caravaggio.
This Basket of Fruit is probably the most famous painting in the collection of Cardinal Federico Borromeo, which formed the original nucleus of the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. It is considered to be a sort of prototype of the “still life” genre. It shows a wicker basket brimming with fruit and leaves, rendered with great realism and attention to detail. This almost conflicts with the abstract neutral background of the painting and with the line of colour the basket itself is resting on, and from which it juts out. The founder of the Ambrosiana mentions this extraordinary painting many times in his writings and says he has searched in vain for a work that can bear comparison to it. But, he writes “for its incomparable beauty and excellence, it remained alone”. The painting has been interpreted in many different ways, some of which are religious: the extreme realism with which the fresh fruits are placed alongside those that are worm-eaten, and the leaves that gradually dry out and shrivel, give tangible form to the inexorable passing of time.
And when you are visiting the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, please do not forget to see Leonardo da Vinci’s only painting on panel to have remained in Milan, now called Portrait of a Musician.
Leonardo’s Portrait of a Musician was traditionally thought to depict Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan. In 1905, when restoration work removed the overpainting and uncovered the hand with a musical scroll in the lower part, it was suggested that this was the portrait of a Musician, at times identified as Franchino Gaffurio, chapel Master of the Duomo of Milan and at other times as the Franco Flemish singer and composer Josquin des Prez, both of whom worked in Milan at the time of Leonardo and Ludovico il Moro. Recently it has also been suggested that it is a portrait of Atalante Migliorotti, a Tuscan musician who was a friend of Leonardo and who came with him to the Duke’s court in Milan as a singer and talented lyrist. With other words, we don’t know who it is, but it’s a beautiful portrait for sure. And the queues are way less than for visiting Leonardo’s Last Supper!
- Biblioteca Ambrosiana, off the beaten track in Milan, and just 5 minutes walk from the Duomo.
- For directions, click here.