Misfortune at the Mine

Misfortune at the Mine is among the most unique works in the Grohmann Museum collection, unlike any other in both style and approach. The majority of paintings in the collection are literal interpretations of the industry of focus, painted in a straightforward manner and primarily representational. This painting represents a departure from this norm in that Bisagni evokes biblical imagery in his depiction of the fallen miner.

The painting adopts the formal quality of cathedral glass in a type of cubist treatment of the subject. And the positions of the five figures are reminiscent of Old Master paintings of Jesus Christ’s descent from the cross. Fields of color formed in stripes run through the composition and lend to the scene the look of light streaming through a stained-glass window. The miner’s positioning is also reminiscent of the positioning of Christ in Michelangelo’s Pietá.