After graduating, he frequented the Caffè Michelangiolo, meeting with Giovanni Fattori and other members of the Macchiaioli.

During this time, he focused on landscapes of Maremma and the area around San Gimignano, where he lived with an uncle.

From 1876, he attended meetings of the "Decentralist Committee", formed by the art critic Diego Martelli, and began promoting greater autonomy for the local academies in Italy.

[1] Over the next decade, he participated in several major exhibitions, including the Exposition Universelle (1878), and one at the Royal Academy of Arts in London (1883).

[3] He did, however, make use of this experience; creating an album of portraits of the mentally ill. Later, he settled in the isolated village of Montemiccioli and began participating in local exhibitions.