Tarantella 

Anton Romako painted this lively scene of the Tarantella, likely in the latter half of the 19th century. This kind of genre painting served a public role at the time by presenting viewers with idealized images of peasant life in picturesque locales. The image creates meaning through visual codes. The figures' clothing, the tambourine, and the landscape references are all intended to evoke a specific time, place, and culture. Italy became an important site of pilgrimage for artists in the 19th century. They were drawn to its classical ruins, picturesque landscapes, and the enduring traditions of its rural inhabitants. This painting can be seen as a product of that tourist economy. The work also participates in the romanticization of southern European cultures, an enduring trend in the fine arts. To understand the role of this painting, we might turn to tourist guides and historical studies. These could shed light on the ways in which the image reflects cultural and social attitudes of the time. We see that the meaning of art is contingent on social and institutional context.