Despite these early accounts of Bernardo Polo, it was not until 2009 that the first signed painting by the artist came to light – a Still Life with Melons, Grapes, Apricots and Plums on a Pewter Dish now in a private collection. This permitted the identification of a corpus of over forty still lifes by the same hand which had hitherto been grouped under the pseudonym the 'Pseudo-Hiepes' by Dr. William Jordan and Dr. Peter Cherry on account of the paintings’ stylistic affinities with the work of the Valencian still-life painter Tomás Hiepes (1595-1674).2 This painting forms part of a group of works that are designed around a stone slab carved with leaves, upon which sit simply but symmetrically arranged objects. The tendency to repeat certain objects or motifs within his own works is common within Polo’s œuvre. Another closely related version of this composition, for example, with a different arrangement of flowers in the bluestone vase, was sold London, Bonhams, 4 July 2012, lot 12.3

1. See J.A. Céan Bermúdez, Diccionario histórico de los más ilustres profesores de las Bellas Artes en España, Madrid 1800, vol. IV, p. 105.
2. See W.B. Jordan and P. Cherry, Spanish Still Life from Velázquez to Goya, exhibition catalogue, London 1995, pp. 124-28.
3. See W.B. Jordan, 'El Pseudo-Hiepes es Bernardo Polo', in Archivo Español de Arte, Madrid, October-December 2009, LXXXII, p. 328, fig. 5.

Sotheby's. Old Master & British Paintings Day Sale.London | 10 juil. 2014, 10:30 AM - http://www.sothebys.com/