Swamp

To be born in the hometown of the greatest Latin poet and to live in a city famous for its history and past means to be surrounded by a heritage that can be burdening. Resmi’s art spoke of poverty, and often portrayed barren and sometimes stormy landscapes, in which the well-known outline of the city Mantua, which stands on the shores of two lakes, appears. This is the case of the work that we see here, animated by a heavy yet sincere patheticism. The trunks of the trees remind us of desperate people who, in the long Po valley winter, here nearly over, raise their arms in a primitive and painful gesture. The painting, sometimes called Palude (Swamp), that dates to 1928, shows the dome of Saint Andrew’s cathedral in the distance, the towers, the bell tower. The lake is the size of a puddle in which nothing can be reflected. And yet, it is this whitish strip that sets the tone and intensity of the composition, as if a magical barrier separated the countryside from ancient dwellings. The ground is already green, ready for a spring that will perhaps follow, which does not however yet fully show itself.