Silvestro Lega

(Modigliana , 1826 - Firenze, 1895)

Signature bottom left. Expertise Baboni Archive for 19th century Italian Painting edited by Prof. Andrea Baboni.
Provenance: Trentanove Collection, Florence.
The painting reproduced here, "The Child's Greeting", is an authentic and evocative work by  Silvestro Lega, referable to the years 1880/85, when his work diverged fromto the Macchiaiola experience.Lover of scenes of refined intimacy and studious constant of everyday reality, fort of an original formation due to the severe studies done with Mussini and Ciseri, thowever in his works he expresses a modernity so that even an apparently banal takes on a strong real representation. In this painting the affectionate moment between the nurse and the baby translates into afresh with reality, alive with colours. Its world populated by female figures expresses itself in life scenes that imply emotional involvement.The light and color of the figures in the foreground stand out against a lively and ccomplex with results of admirable quality and are masterfully composed in the painting; The orange handkerchief of the female figure seems to be the center of the composition, valored by the juxtaposition of the whiteness of the child's dress. The scena is set in a river landscape full of greenery that enhances the colors chistory of figures.

Expertise by Andrea Baboni