
Still Life with Fish, Bread, and Kettlec. 1772
During the 1760s, after painting portraits and portrait miniatures with his father, Meléndez began to specialize in still lifes. More about this work
About this work
During the 1760s, after painting portraits and portrait miniatures with his father, Meléndez began to specialize in still lifes. Active mainly in Madrid, he is regarded as the finest Spanish still-life painter of the 18th century, but he spent much of his life in poverty.
Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Cleveland Museum of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1983.97
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site










