Estêvão Silva

[1] He enrolled at the Academia Imperial de Belas Artes in 1864, where he studied with Victor Meirelles and Agostinho José da Mota, who inspired him to specialize in still-lifes.

In the 1880s, he became identified with the "Grupo Grimm", an association of disaffected artists that formed around the German-born painter Georg Grimm, although he never actually broke with the Academy's teaching methods.

As a result, he came before a disciplinary committee that found him guilty of contempt for school discipline.

Luckily, they also determined that he had no malicious intent, so he was suspended for one year rather than being expelled.

[2] In addition to his popular still lifes (mostly devoted to fruit), he painted some historical scenes and religious works.