By the fire 

Niccolo Cannicci painted “By the Fire” using oil on panel, sometime in the late nineteenth century. It depicts a solitary figure tending a small fire in a wooded landscape. Cannicci, an Italian artist, was part of a broader movement exploring landscape and rural life, reflecting a growing interest in national identity and the everyday experiences of ordinary people. This painting can be understood within the context of nineteenth-century Italian art, which often sought to define a sense of national character through its representation of the landscape and its inhabitants. The focus on a humble, intimate scene also challenges the grand historical and mythological subjects that had dominated academic painting. To fully understand this work, we could investigate the role of landscape painting in shaping Italian national identity, the social conditions of rural communities in Tuscany, and the rise of plein air painting as a way of capturing the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere.