Self-portrait 1861

Curator: This is Silvestro Lega’s "Self-Portrait" from 1861, an oil painting now held in the Uffizi Gallery. Editor: It has an immediacy to it, wouldn’t you say? The brushstrokes seem quite visible, lending a sense of the artist’s hand and, frankly, a feeling of slightly melancholic contemplation. Curator: Precisely. Let's consider Lega's place within the Macchiaioli group. The visible brushwork that captures your attention aligns with their focus on capturing light and shadow in distinct patches of color, breaking with the academic conventions. The production of these materials, from canvas and pigments to brushes, represent a shift in the availability of art materials at that time, making painting accessible to artists outside established academic circles. Editor: This is so compelling when we consider Lega’s involvement in the Risorgimento, the movement for Italian unification. That somewhat somber mood, the very tangible marks of creation, they hint at a person deeply invested in a moment of national upheaval and transformation. One wonders about his relationship with artistic and national identity at a time of great social unrest and political change. Curator: The materials used, especially oil paint, were increasingly industrialized. It is telling to note the intersection of individual expression via self-portraiture coinciding with the increased industrialisation of colours available. Editor: He captures not only his likeness but a certain sensibility of a changing Italy, one wrestling with modernization and unification. His subtle defiance of formal portraiture becomes an active engagement in shaping his own representation against a larger political drama. Curator: Yes, and think about the role of academies in the mid-19th century in Europe versus independent artists - each struggling to maintain and build their own support structure as the mechanisms of artistic accreditation shift towards something we see differently today. The painting then becomes a material artefact evidencing those changing relations between production and the artist's agency. Editor: This reminds us that even within seemingly conventional forms, like self-portraiture, artists find space to challenge existing social structures and voice both personal and collective identities. Curator: Ultimately, by emphasizing process and materials, we reveal that there are other layers to the meanings the artist sought to express, by his choices of how it was made. Editor: And when viewed through a contemporary lens, it prompts us to question representation itself and our roles in the ever-evolving narratives of history and identity.