His reclusive life and his 'frugal' art earned Morandi the nickname "il monaco" - the monk. He deliberately limited his choice of still life objects to unremarkable bottles, jars, jugs, vases and boxes that were - and still are - found in everyone's domestic environment. He 'neutralized' them by removing their labels and painting them with a matte colour to eliminate any lettering or reflections. This provided him with an anonymous group of forms that he could arrange to explore their abstract qualities and relationships.
When assembled together in a still life group, these bottles and boxes take on a monumental quality. Morandi always looked at his still life objects as if he was seeing them for the first time. He intensely contemplated each object to find its visual dynamic within the still life group. When satisfied with an arrangement, he would draw around the bases of the objects to finalise their positions. "I need weeks to make up my mind which group of bottles will go well with a certain coloured tablecloth......Then I need weeks of thinking about the bottles themselves, and yet often I still go wrong with the spaces. Perhaps I work too fast?" It is exactly this intensity of his contemplation that gives a freshness and individuality to each of Morandi's works.