Andries Benedetti

He was the son of Italian immigrants Pietro Benedetti (died before 1638) and Maria Torres who married in the Antwerp Cathedral in 1598.

[1] The first firm record on the artist dates from 1636 when he was registered at the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as an apprentice of Vincent Cernevael.

[3] He seemed to have enjoyed important patronage as one of his works representing a still life with oysters, lobster and fruits was recorded in 1659 in the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, the art loving Governor General of the Habsburg Netherlands.

[4] Benedetti followed the innovations of de Heem, by creating sumptuous compositions, which combine the colourful Flemish palette with the more muted tones popular in Dutch still life painting.

Only after the anagram " A b fe" was identified on several still lifes in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna) was it possible to attribute the works to Benedetti.

Pronk still life with fruit, oysters and lobsters
Table with desserts
Still life with a vase of roses and tulips, a ham on a pewter plate