The flaying in Livorno 1867

Giovanni Fattori painted this small oil on panel, "The flaying in Livorno," sometime during his career as one of the leaders of the Macchiaioli movement in Italy. This work embodies Fattori's engagement with the everyday life and landscape of his native Livorno, rendered with a stark simplicity that belies its deeper social commentary. The scene depicts a humble building set against a desolate, sun-drenched landscape. Painted during a period of significant social upheaval and national unification in Italy, Fattori's work often reflected the realities of rural life and the plight of the common people. Fattori and the Macchiaioli rejected academic conventions in favor of capturing the raw, unvarnished truth of their surroundings. To understand Fattori fully, scholars often turn to historical archives, letters, and contemporary accounts that reveal the artist's social and political leanings, and it is only through this research, that Fattori's landscapes speak to the socio-political climate that shaped their creation.