Macchiaioli

The most notable artists of this movement were Giuseppe Abbati, Cristiano Banti, Odoardo Borrani, Vincenzo Cabianca, Adriano Cecioni, Vito D'Ancona, Serafino De Tivoli, Giovanni Fattori, Raffaello Sernesi, Silvestro Lega, and Telemaco Signorini.

[2] In addition, they found inspiration in the paintings of their French contemporaries of the Barbizon school thanks to Serafino De Tivoli (referred to as the father of the Macchiaioli's technique by his friend Telemaco Signorini[3]), who brought those influences to the Caffe' Michelangiolo after his trip to Paris for the Exposition Universelle in 1855.

The word macchia was commonly used by Italian artists and critics in the nineteenth century to describe the sparkling quality of a drawing or painting, whether due to a sketchy and spontaneous execution or to the harmonious breadth of its overall effect.

[5] The term carried several connotations: it mockingly implied that the artists' finished works were no more than sketches, and recalled the phrase "darsi alla macchia", meaning, idiomatically, to hide in the bushes or scrubland.

[7] As a matter of fact, sketches painted on relatively small board panels (often fitting into standard cigar boxes), and where the "macchia" technique is mostly exemplified, represent a sort of trademark of the Macchiaioli's movement.

In this view the Macchiaioli emerge as being very much embedded in their social fabric and context, literally fighting alongside Giuseppe Garibaldi on behalf of the Risorgimento and its ideals.

An exhibition in Venice, at the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti showed the capolavori della collezione Mario Taragoni from March 8 - July 27, 2008.