Giovanni Fattori, Cavalleggeri in perlustrazione (Light cavalry on patrol), pen lithograph

This pen lithograph shows two cavalrymen stationery on horseback. They are beside a path that leads into the distance alongside a river with two trees. The work is characteristic of Giovanni Fattori's style but, unusually, it is printed on blue paper.

Fattori (1825-1908) was the greatest Italian etcher of the late nineteenth century. He was a leading member of the Macchiaioli, a group of Italian artists based in Tuscany. He is well known for painting military scenes, which around this time reflected his disillusionment with political events under the centralized government in Rome. Fattori was also well known for his rural landscapes.

This work escaped the attention of the compilers of Fattori's catalogue raisonné, published in 1983. However, the verso bears a signed attribution by Andrea Baboni, one of the co-authors of the catalogue, who was finally shown this impression in 1999.