Giovanni Battista Recco was from a family of Neapolitan artists, likely the brother of Giacomo Recco and uncle of Giuseppe Recco, both of whom also specialised in still life painting. He was among the most highly respected painters of still lifes in 17th-century Naples, and may have been one of the first to introduce marine elements into this tradition. Despite success during his lifetime, there is little trace of him in contemporary documents, and he was largely forgotten until 1961. His work was rediscovered in the 1960s following an article published by museum curator and academic Nolfo di Carpegna, who noticed four stylistically similar paintings all bearing the monogram ‘GBR’, to which was added another picture with the artist’s full signature (Carpegna published his findings in Bolletino d’arte IV (1961)).

Although overlooked for centuries, in recent decades the importance of this Neapolitan painter has been properly understood. It is clear that by 1656, his reputation was well-established; Raffaello Causa noted that by this date two of the artist’s still lifes were hanging at the Ruffo villa at Portici alongside masterpieces by Mattia Pretti, Salvator Rosa and Jusepe da Ribera. Moreover, Recco’s nickname ‘Titta Recco’ is listed in inventories of collections of Prince Ferante Spinelli and the marchese Ferdinand van den Eiden.

From a stylistic point of view, Recco’s paintings find similarities with Spanish tradition of bodogones, but it is not known if he ever visited Spain. In any case, the strong presence of Spanish artists in Naples at the time would have exposed Recco to this style of painting. Recco’s known works exhibit intense observation paired with dramatic chiaroscuro and an enthusiasm for the most humble of components, from cabbages to fish, often in innovative compositions. Indeed, his Still Life with Chickens and Eggs in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (fig. 1), was formerly attributed to Velazquez, reflecting the high calibre of his work.

Previously attributed to Giovan Battista Ruoppolo (with whom Recco was often conflated prior to 1961), our impressively large picture is a testament to Recco’s mastery of the still life genre, a humble assortment of kitchen and larder objects elevated through his attentive description and atmospheric lighting. Like other examples from his oeuvre, Recco juxtaposes living and dead animals, as well as a whole array of foods and utensils. The cross-section of the cured sausage and the irregular cheeses tied with string bear resemblance to those in the Rijksmuseum painting mentioned above, while the setting on a grey stone ledge is a favourite device of Recco – for example in the Still Life with Apples, Cabbage, Parsnips and Lettuce at Compton Verney (fig. 2) – adopting the trend set in motion by Caravaggio’s famous ledge from his Basket of Fruit (c. 1594–98, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan).

Our painting first came to scholarly attention in 1964, when it was part of a Bolognese private collection, and was exhibited publicly in the touring exhibition La Natura Morta Italiana (where it was attributed to Ruoppolo). It was attributed to Recco shortly afterwards in the 1968 exhibition in Bergamo, and in the following years this attribution was confirmed by a number of leading experts on Neapolitan and 17th-century painting, including being published by Raffaello Causa, Roberto Middione, Luigi Salerno and Nicola Spinosa. The work was on long-term loan to the Kunsthaus Zurich between 2009 and 2025, attesting to the widespread high regard of its quality and ambition.

Fig. 1 – Giovanni Battista Recco, Still Life with Chicken and Eggs, oil on canvas, 108 x 87 cm, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, SK-A-3884.

Fig. 2 – Giovanni Battista Recco, Still Life with Apples, Cabbage, Parsnips and Lettuce, oil on canvas, 87 x 109.9 cm, Warwickshire, Compton Verney, CVCSC:0361.S.