Bidspirit auction | Luca Giordano (Naples, 1634 –

Luca Giordano (Naples, 1634 – 1705) Attributed - Taste and Smell - Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 97 x 130 cm. An important Baroque composition attributed to Luca Giordano, executed within the Neapolitan naturalist tradition inspired by José de Ribera's celebrated series of The Five Senses. The scene depicts two half-length figures of commoners situated behind a table laden with food and everyday objects. The adult figure on the right holds a wine glass and directly alludes to Ribera's model of Taste, housed in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, where Ribera represents the sense of taste through a male figure of common character, with a commanding physical presence and strong naturalistic expressiveness. Opposite him, the young man on the left introduces a more singular and novel interpretation, appearing to smell a watermelon, a gesture that allows him to be identified with the sense of smell within a less conventional and particularly original interpretation of the theme. This work demonstrates Luca Giordano's profound knowledge of Ribera's painting, of which he was one of the great heirs in the Neapolitan school of the Seicento. The treatment of faces, the intensity of the chiaroscuro, the direct presence of the common people as models, and the arrangement of objects on the table all connect with Ribera's naturalism, although Giordano reinterprets it with greater pictorial fluidity and narrative sensitivity. This work is of great interest within Neapolitan Baroque painting due to its connection with the iconography of the Five Senses and the unique combination of allegories of taste and smell within a single composition. Lot in international warehouse (within the EU). Intra-EU shipping: no import duties apply within the EU. An export permit from the country of origin may be required.