Female Nude Study 

Pietro Lazzari painted this “Female Nude Study” using oil paint, though the exact date remains unknown. Lazzari came of age artistically during a period of significant social upheaval and artistic experimentation. The emotional rawness of the gestural strokes and the figure's obscured features evoke a sense of vulnerability, challenging idealized representations of the female form. This abstraction invites us to consider the sitter's own experience of being seen. Is she participating or objectified? The muted palette seems to mute her voice and presence, but not her form. While the gaze of the male artist often has dominated the genre of the nude, here the artist seems interested in something else: a study of being. The painting thus opens up a space to question the power dynamics inherent in portraiture.