![Luigi Benedicenti - Meringue II [2012]](http://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7645/27648119636_65f79770c7_b.jpg)
The work of Benedicenti is deeply rooted in the still-life tradition that sprouted in Europe in the late XVI century, embodied by such masters as Bosschaert the Elder and Bruegel the Elder, whose accurately descriptive paintings were often employed for scientific purposes. Such naturalism reached its apogee during the XVII century in Rome and Naples with painters as Pietro Paolo Bonzi, Giovan Battista Ruoppolo or Giuseppe Recco specialised in the production of lavish still-lives, swarming with groceries, bovine carcases, game, shining fish and iridescent shellfish of unusual shape.
[Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, Los Angeles - Oil on panel, 99.9 × 132.9 cm]