Woman at the wel (Chain pump or water wheel)

The oil on wood panel painted by Silvestro Lega is almost certainly a sketch for the painting executed in 1863 known as "Il Bindolo" and now preserved in the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome. The sketch outlines in a synthetic way what Lega will then define in the painting with a perfect compositional coherence, highlighted in this case by the harmony of the chromatic range used. In the artowrk, everyday life of work is represented: a woman bended over a tub is flanked by the gear that raises water from the well by means of a system of wheels, which must be moved by animal force. The oil on wood panel probably portrays the garden behind the Batelli house, in Piagentina, where Lega will live for almost a decade, being able to portray scenes of domestic life and rural work.