Washerwomen at the Canal

This painting, which is dated 1893, gives us a view of the Naviglio, a very popular genre subject in those years. A number of figures are shown on the two banks of the canal by the gates of Milan. The water is seen at dawn (if, as seems likely, the setting is the Naviglio Grande) and it cuts across the composition diagonally, making it the ideal subject for the luministic and chromatic analysis that interested the painter. In terms of perspective, notice how the road markers on the left lead away to infinity, with the Duomo of Milan in the background.