Luis Egidio Meléndez (1716–1780) was a Spanish painter. Though he received little acclaim during his lifetime and died in poverty, Meléndez is recognized as the greatest Spanish

still-life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or human-made (drinking glasses, books, ...

painter of the 18th century. His mastery of composition and light, and remarkable ability to convey the volume and texture of individual objects enabled him to transform the most mundane of kitchen fare into powerful images.

Life

Luis Egidio Meléndez de Rivera Durazo y Santo Padre was born in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

in 1716 to Francisco Meléndez de Rivera Diaz (1682 – after 1758) and Maria Josefa Durazo y Santo Padre Barrille. Meléndez's father, a miniaturist painter from

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

,Martin, p. 76 had moved to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

with his older brother, the portrait painter Miguel Jacinto Meléndez (1679–1734) in pursuit of artistic instruction.Tufts, p. 10 Whereas Miguel remained in Madrid to study and became a painter in the court of

Philip V of Spain Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Spanish monarchs, King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign (45 years and 16 days) is the longest in the ...

, Francisco left for Italy in 1699 to seek greater artistic exposure. Francisco took a special interest in visiting the Italian academies and settled in Naples where he married. Meléndez was a year old when his father, who had been a soldier in a Spanish garrison and lived abroad for almost two decades, returned to

with the family. Meléndez, his brother José Agustín, and Ana, one of his sisters, began their careers under the tutelage of their father, who was appointed the King's Painter of Miniatures in 1725. After several years "painting royal portraits in jewels and bracelets to serve as gifts for envoys and ambassadors", he entered the workshop of Louis Michel van Loo (1707–1771), a Frenchman who had been made royal painter of Philip V. Between 1737 and 1742, Meléndez merely worked as a part of a team of artist dedicated to copy van Loo's prototypes of royal portraits for the domestic and overseas market but had a foothold in the palace. He had his artistic sights on a distinguished career as a court painter. When the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal aca ...

was provisionally inaugurated in 1744, Francisco was made an honorary director of the painting section, and Meléndez was among the first students to be admitted, where he achieved outstanding results in drawing. The academy was progressive in that it not only tolerated but also encouraged "lesser" genres, including

still life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...

. At this time, he was already an accomplished painter, as proven by his self-portrait signed in 1747 at the Louvre. However, a petty quarrel marred this opportunity; Francisco openly attacked the director of the academy and claimed for himself the honor of being the founder. He had Meléndez personally deliver the inflammatory material to the academy. Francisco was relieved of his teaching position and Meléndez formally expelled from the Academy on June 15, 1748. Unlike his father, Meléndez's professional status was precarious. Young and self-righteous, without the support of the academy and his reputation at stake, he decided to go to Italy to get new opportunities, where he remained until 1752. He stayed in Rome and Naples to pursue other career possibilities. There he made some paintings, now lost, for

Charles III of Spain Charles III (; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was King of Spain in the years 1759 to 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I (1731–1735); King of Naples, as Charles VII; and King of Sicily, as Charles III (or V) (1735� ...

, who was then King of Naples.

Career

After a fire at the

Alcázar An ''alcázar'', from Arabic ''al-Qasr'', is a type of Islamic castle or palace in Spain built during Al-Andalus, Muslim rule between the 8th and 15th centuries. They functioned as homes and regional capitals for governmental figures throughout ...

in 1753 destroyed scores of illuminated choir books, Francisco coaxed his 37-year-old son to return to Spain to help paint new miniatures. Though Meléndez eventually executed scores of still lifes for the royal household, he did not secure an official appointment to serve the king. Meléndez worked out of Madrid and initially painted an array of subjects. In 1760 Meléndez's petition for the position of court painter was refused, despite the caliber of his early works. He painted some religious works but began specializing in still life after 1760, a decorative genre that could be produced without commission and was therefore lucrative for artists without royal patronage or the support of the academy. Between 1759 and 1772, he created at least 44 still lifes for the private museum of natural history belonging to the

Prince of Asturias Prince or Princess of Asturias () is the main substantive title used by the heir apparent, or heir presumptive to the monarchy of Spain, Spanish Crown. According to the Spanish Constitution of 1978: The title originated in 1388, when King J ...

, who later became King

Charles IV of Spain Charles IV (; 11 November 1748 – 20 January 1819) was King of Spain and ruler of the Spanish Empire from 1788 to 1808. The Spain inherited by Charles IV gave few indications of instability, but during his reign, Spain entered a series of disa ...

.Jiménez-Blanco, p. 154 Of these paintings thirty nine are today in the

Museo del Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...

, and it is rare to find his work outside of Spain. Despite his talent, Meléndez lived in poverty for most of his life, and in 1772 in a letter to the king he declared that he only owned his brushes. Unappreciated in his time, when he died in Madrid in 1780, he was indigent. File:Luis Melendez, Still Life with Salmon,Lemon and three Vessels,1772 Museo del Prado Madrid.jpg, ''Still Life with Salmon, Lemon and three Vessels'', oil on canvas, 1772

File:Natura morta amb prunes, figues i pa.jpg, ''Still Life with Figs and Plums'' File:Meléndez, Luis Egidio - Still Life with Fruit and Cheese.jpg, ''Still Life with Fruit and Cheese'' File:Still Life with Tomatoes a Bowl of Aubergines and Onions.jpg, ''Still Life with Tomatoes a Bowl of Aubergines and Onions'', probably one of his last paintings, 1780 File:The Afternoon Meal (La Merienda) MET DT1570.jpg, '' The Afternoon Meal'', circa 1772,

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

Bodegón style

Meléndez updated and enriched the austere tradition of Spanish still life painting, which had been initiated by the 17th-century masters

Juan Sánchez Cotán Juan Sánchez Cotán (June 25, 1560 – September 8, 1627) was a Spanish Baroque painting, Spanish Baroque painter, a pioneer of realism in Spain. His still lifes and ''bodegón, bodegones'' were painted in an austere style, especially when com ...

and

Francisco de Zurbarán Francisco de Zurbarán ( , ; baptized 7 November 1598 – 27 August 1664) was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname "Spanis ...

. Like them, Meléndez studied light's effects, texture and the color of fruits and vegetables as well as the earthenware, glass and copper pots beside which the fruit is displayed. Unlike the 17th-century masters, however, his subject matter is presented physically closer to the viewer, at a lower vantage point, encouraging the spectator to study the objects for themselves. This exploration was in keeping with the growing spirit of

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

and the king's interest in

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

. Meléndez painted his still lifes with a serious sense of reverence. What attracted him was not grand themes but the ordinary stuff of everyday life, which he studied with an enormous visual interest in the everyday normality of form. Each still-life painting by Meléndez is visually arresting and compelling and reveals a wonderful technical skill at constructing compositions. Meléndez conveyed the solidity and precise texture of objects in artful compositions of great sophistication. He employed a low vantage point and close-up view of objects placed on a tabletop to give his forms an unprecedented monumentality. The use of strong lighting to bring out the volume of the objects enhanced his extraordinary descriptive skill. Meléndez seems to have spent more time lighting his scenes than preparing pigments for his palette. He loved painting reflections on the surfaces, edges, and rims of lemons,

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

pots, ceramic bowls, plums, and melons. This contributes to the lively character and rhythm of his work. Meléndez described his works as "an amusing cabinet with all types of foodstuffs that the Spanish climate produces". His works outside the

are: ''Still life with Oranges,

Walnuts A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an invo ...

and Boxes of Sweetmeats'' (

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

, London); ''Still Life with Lemons and Oranges'' (

, London); ''Still life with a Plate of Plums, Pears and Fruit Basket'' (Masaveu Collection, Museo de Bellas Artes, Asturias); and ''Still life with Red Breams and Oranges'' (Private Collection). File:Bodegonconperitaspanjarrafrascoytartera-Meléndez.jpg, ''Still Life with Green Olives and Jar'', 1760 File:Bodegnconnaranjassandia-Meléndez.jpg, ''Still Life with Oranges and Watermelon'', c. 1760 File:Luis Meléndez - Still Life with Figs and Bread - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Still Life with Bread and Figs'', 1770 File:Luis Meléndez - Still Live - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Still Life with melon'', 1765/1775

References

* Garrido, Carmen, Cherry, Peter, ''Luis Meléndez: La serie de bodegones para el Príncipe de Asturias: Estudio Técnico'', Museo del Prado, 2004, . *Martin, Jana (editor),''The Majesty of Spain: Royal collections from the Museo del Prado & the Patrimonio Nacional'', Mississippi Commission for International Cultural Exchange, Inc. * Tufts, Eleanor, '' Luis Meléndez : Spanish Still-Life Painter of the Eighteenth Century''. Exhibition Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas 1985, * *''The Prado Guide'', Ed. Maria Dolores Jimenez-Blanco, Museo National Del Prado, p. 154, English 2nd Revised Edition, 2009

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melendez, Luis Egidio 1716 births 1780 deaths 18th-century Spanish painters 18th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters Spanish bodegón painters Italian people of Asturian descent Italian people of Spanish descent Spanish people of Italian descent 18th-century Neapolitan people