oil on canvas, 99x59 cm + frame 5 cm, Inv. n. 697

In the catalogue of the exhibition on Liberty (Art Nouveau) held in Bologna in 1977, Orsola Ghetti Baldi wrote that this work has a solemnly naturalistic painting, where the sculptural definition of the figure is sought through the application of living and contoured chromatic zones, although the romantic chiaroscuro persists. This characteristic confirms the influence of the Tuscan school, of Giovanni Fattori and Silvestro Lega above all, who are recalled in its linear purity. Baccarini had then returned from his stay in Florence and perhaps this oil painting was a sort of attempt to put his recent artistic experiences to the test. However, although the values of compactness of the colour and the linearity are evident in the figure, the background with its rhythmic geometric composition creates a certain contrast, accentuating the solidity of the work. Baccarini, the dogged experimenter of technique that he was, attempted in the same year other approaches, always in the sector of portraits in oil paints. The portraits of 1903 were actually an opportunity to study the technique of the stringy division of the pigment that, as can be observed in the drawings, was to be a long-term priority.