Portrait of the artist's cousin 1861

Giovanni Fattori painted this small portrait of his cousin, in Italy, sometime in the mid-19th century, with oil on canvas. Fattori was a member of the Macchiaioli group, an Italian movement that anticipated some of the innovations of Impressionism. Think about what it would mean to be part of a progressive artistic circle in Florence at that time. Florence was the former capital of Italy, but in the 1860s the capital moved to Rome, representing a big shift in Italian politics and culture. In this context, the Macchiaioli artists were interested in breaking away from academic traditions. The loose brushwork and informal composition of this portrait suggest a desire to capture the immediacy of life, rather than an idealized vision. You can consider the artist’s family ties and the significance of painting a relative. When we study art, we have to do a lot of digging into archives, letters, exhibition records, newspapers, and other sources. From these primary materials, we can understand how historical circumstances influenced artmaking and its meaning.