The Prison Baths at Portroferraio

1894 · Galleria dell'Arte Moderna, Palazzo Pitti, Florence

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Signorini's interest in social realism was renewed in1888 during a trip to the island of Elba off the Tuscan coast, which was known for its salt refineries as well as its penal colony. Here the artist chose the moment of an inspection in the prison baths in the town of Portoferraio. The open area in the foreground draws the viewer into the pictorial space, thereby making him a participant in this gloomy event.

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About the Artist

Telemaco Signorini

1835 – 1901

Italian painter, writer, critic, illustrator, etcher and teacher. He was a major figure of the Macchiaioli group, painting primarily landscapes, seascapes and street scenes in towns and villages in Tuscany and Liguria. As with many of the Macchiaioli, he did not always date his paintings, and their chronology must be deduced from exhibition catalogues and other contemporary sources. As a writer and critic he was the most ardent spokesman for, and promoter of, the Macchiaioli and wrote with insight and cutting wit about the art world of the second half of the 19th century.

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