Basket of Wild Strawberries in a Landscape

Luis Melendez abandoned the dark, austere interiors of the older Spanish still-life tradition for the open air. Here, a basket of wild strawberries has been placed next to some strawberry plants on a hillside, some of them silhouetted against the blue sky and lively clouds. The surrounding countryside and Melendez’s always accurate representation of berries and plants tell us that this picture was painted during the century of Linnaeus. In Madrid, too, a new feeling for nature was merging in the 18th century.