This resplendent painting is by Giovanna Garzoni, one of the only female painters to rise to prominence during the Renaissance. Although she is usually praised for the geometrical exactitude of her subjects, what I personally find most intriguing about this piece is the remarkable use of colour. All of the fruits are imperfect; bruised, scratched, dirty — in essence, true to life. The polychromy in the plumage of the beeeater and and the goldfinches is breathtaking. It looks almost modern, plucked out of time. One of the most surprising things to come out of the Renaissance, and that’s saying a lot!