Nineteenth-century painters often drew on the representation of scenes from everyday life. They were inspired by themes such as childhood, work, and bourgeois interiors. Such scenes lie somewhere between visions of Romanticism and the first signs of social realism in painting, with a focus on representing issues and contradictions in contemporary society.
The world of childhood is represented in a new light compared to previous centuries. In particular, painters from Southern Italy like Filippo Palizzi and Antonio Mancini featured scenes from childhood in a significant number of their pieces.
Themes related to work, meanwhile, were depicted by Lombard and Venetian landscape painters as well as by Tuscan artists close to the Macchiaioli group, including Raffaello Sorbi and Eugenio Cecconi.
Invito alla danza (1866/1870) by Mosè BianchiNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Festive occasions and elegant courtship scenes were both central to Italy's art scene, especially following the country's unification. This can be seen in the works of Giacomo Favretto and Mosè Bianchi.
Invito alla Danza (Invitation to the Dance) - Mosè Bianchi
Medium-sized oil painting portraying a young, masked woman dressed in 18th-century attire. She is facing the viewer while pointing to the scene behind her.
La filatrice (1885/1890) by Nicolò CannicciNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
La Filatrice (The Spinner) - Niccolò Cannicci
Small oil painting depicting a young woman nearly full-length. She is wearing a blue-striped shirt and a yellow handkerchief on her head. She holds a spindle in her hand while looking at the viewer.
Pranzo di nozze (1880/1887) by Vincenzo CaprileNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Pranzo di Nozze (Wedding Dinner) - Vincenzo Caprile
Small oil painting of a domestic interior with five people (four seated and one standing) at a table. Carved and gilded frame.
Lavadaie a Torre del lago (1880) by Eugenio CecconiNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Lavandaie a Torre del Lago (Washerwomen at Torre del Lago) - Eugenio Cecconi
Medium-sized oil painting of a lake landscape with women washing clothes in the water and mountains in the distance.
Laguna con barche e pescatori (1899/1900) by Guglielmo CiardiNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Laguna con Barche e Pescatori (Lagoon with Boats and Fishermen) - Guglielmo Ciardi
Medium-sized oil painting depicting a Venetian seascape with boats in the background, a wooden bridge, and a patch of trees with buildings on the right.
Soli (Alone Together) - Giacomo Favretto
This well-preserved painting demonstrates the artist's maturity and shows an interior scene in line with the fashion of the time, which depicted 18th-century Venice in a frivolous, light-hearted manner. This trend was heavily influenced by Favretto and was greatly appreciated by foreign clients, especially the English. It is noted for its high-quality execution characterized by light, fast brushstrokes, creating a very fresh effect.
La bottega del calderaio (1892) by Carlo FornaraNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
La Bottega del Calderaio (The Tinker's Workshop) - Carlo Fornara
The Tinker's Workshop is an autographed replica painted in 1892 (as attested by the signature on the front) of the painting of the same name presented by Fornara in 1891 at the first Triennale di Brera together with "Ricordanze" (Remembrance). The original is now in a private collection.
The painting faithfully reproduces the structure of its predecessor. It differs in terms of the rendering and position of the man seen from behind and certain objects in the room. Above all, this version offers a wider perspective of the room, with the canvas expanding further up and to the right.
donna alla finestra con la nipote by girolamo indunoNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Sonno Compiacente (Obliging Sleep) - Girolamo Induno
Small oil painting depicting a domestic interior with an elderly woman in the middle of the room. She is facing the viewer, while a young woman on the right gazes out of the window, where a man's head can be seen.
Bambina in giardino (1874) by Domenico IndunoNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Bambina in Giardino (Little Girl in the Garden) - Domenico Induno/
Small painting depicting a little girl in 19th-century attire. Wearing a yellow skirt and floral shirt, she sits on a stone bench in the garden, facing left.
Montmartre (1900) by Camillo InnocentiNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Montmartre - Camillo Innocenti
Medium-sized oil painting depicting two women wearing wide-brimmed hats. One sits on a chair in the foreground, seen in profile facing left, while the other stands in the background, facing right.
fontanina di francavilla by paolo francesco michettiNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Fontanina di Francavilla (Francavilla Fountain) - Francesco Paolo Michetti
This work reveals the influence of Filippo Palizzi in its naturalistic subject matter and the thick, textured paintwork with predominantly earthy tones. The refined color palette, influenced by estheticism, seems to allude to the work of Domenico Morelli. The piece appears to have been painted on a reclaimed surface—most likely a cigar box lid, as the brand can still be seen on the reverse.
In attesa della gondola. Mamma con due bambini (1897) by Alessandro MilesiNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
In Attesa della Gondola (Waiting for the Gondola) - Alessandro Milesi
Small oil painting depicting a woman on a Venetian pier with a newborn in her arms and a little girl standing next to her. She is facing left while waving, her right arm outstretched. There is a gondola in the middle ground and a row of buildings on the canal in the background.
la passeggiata by luigi nonoNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
La Passeggiata (The Walk) - Luigi Nono
This small and well-preserved panel painting can be linked to the studies for the painting "La Passeggiata" (The Walk) completed by Nono in 1891 and now at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. The painting is a prime example of photography's role in the genesis of the painter's works. We know of 17 photographs, some divided into squares, of both the general composition and the details. In these, as in the painting, Nono repeatedly captured his wife Rina and daughter Maria posing on a country road, searching for the painting's general composition before focusing on the details.
Nono then used the photographs to produce the painting. We even know of two sketches that were oil-painted directly onto the photographs (Venice, Nono family collection). These should be considered as color study sketches, while the present version seems to be a small copy made to preserve the memory of the sold work, which Nono replicated in 1892 and 1910.
Alla porta di casa (1859) by Filippo PalizziNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Alla Porta di Casa (On the Threshold) - Filippo Palizzi
Medium-sized oil painting depicting a donkey in profile outside tied to a door. On the threshold, facing the viewer, is a small dog.
Signed and dated 1859, the work is typical of Palizzi's mature period in its accurate realism and full-bodied brushstrokes despite its deliberately simple and paratactic composition.
Mercato del Bestiame (Livestock Market) - Telemaco Signorini
Small oil painting depicting a man from behind as he drives two cows through the streets of a small town. In the background, we see men dressed in black.
Il gioco della ruzzola (1880) by Raffaello SorbiNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Il Gioco della Ruzzola (A Game of Ruzzola) - Raffaello Sorbi
Small oil painting of a group of people dressed in 18th-century attire standing on a road. The central figure has just launched a wooden disc as part of a local game called ruzzola.
La danza sull'aia (1884) by Raffaello SorbiNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
La Danza sull’Aia (The Farmyard Dance) - Raffaello Sorbi
Small oil painting depicting a woman in folk dress dancing outdoors. She is in front of a country farmhouse surrounded by people either standing or sitting on bundles of hay.
Ragazze al sole (1887) by Raffaele TafuriNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Ragazze al Sole (Girls in the Sun) - Raffaele Tafuri
Small oil painting depicting three girls embroidering outdoors. Two girls (in profile) are facing right, while the other gazes directly at the viewer.
Exhibition by
Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia
Leonardo da Vinci
Via San Vittore 21
Milano
Italy
www.museoscienza.org/english/
