Self portrait

Ligabue’s countless self-portraits constitute a personal diary full of existential restlessness and latent madness, that recall Vincent van Gogh and his style. The self-portrait in Ricci’s collection dates back to the late 1950s. Here the artist (well known for his wild behaviour) represents himself in the foreground, with a striped shirt whose open neck frames a thin and deformed face, characterized by the deep wounds that he provoked himself through practices of sacrificial self-mutilation. The look is restless and nervous. The countryside landscape in the background accentuates the sense of isolation through the representation of some 'lonely' elements: a tree, a scarecrow and the stylized flying crow.