In the garden 1883

Silvestro Lega painted this small oil on panel, titled "In the Garden," sometime in the late nineteenth century. Looking at the image, one might consider the public role of painting in Italy during this period. Following unification, Italian artists sought to define a modern national identity. Lega and other members of the Macchiaioli movement rejected academic conventions and instead turned to everyday subjects, painted en plein air. Here, a woman in a light blue dress is depicted sewing in a garden, while a dog rests at her feet. The painting’s intimate scale and domestic subject reflect the values of the rising middle class. But the woman’s isolation and the overgrown garden may also hint at social tensions and the changing roles of women in Italian society. To fully understand the painting's meaning, further research into the artist's life and the social history of Italy in the late nineteenth century would be invaluable.