BORRANI, Odoardo

Odoardo Borrani was initially interested in historical paintings, with particular references to events regarding the Florentine Renaissance. The painting evokes an episode linked to the anti-Medicean conspiracy at the hands of the dei Pazzi family in 1478: the discovery of the corpse of Jacopo, one of the figures at the forefront of the conspiracy, by an agitated crowd; with the city walls in the background and beyond them, the green Florentine hills. The landscape section occupies half of the composition, revealing the painter’s interest in nature; in fact, he was one of the first to paint in the open air, around Florence and in the Apennines near Pistoia, with his friend Raffaello Sernesi. He was involved, together with other artists, in the renewal of art and in the building of a unified Italy. Borrani soon joined the “Macchaioli group”, applying a new style of painting light, volumes and colours even to historical subjects.

Two workers with shovels and sieves descend to the waters of the Mugnone stream, a tributary of the Arno, in order to dig for sand that is needed for construction work. Judging from the cool and silvery palette, this rendering is presumably an early morning scene. Along with Telemaco Signorini and Vincenzo Cabianca, Borrani practiced en plein air painting, preferring, however, minute details and a darker palette than his fellow painters.

Interiors and still-lifes are rarely found among the Macchiaioli artists, who generally preferred landscapes and figure paintings. This intimate glimpse into the artist’s studio displays a carefree assembly of textiles, pottery, furniture, and a guitar placed casually on the sofa. The unusual perspective indicates that Borrani’s attention is focused more on the effects of light and colour than on the depicted space.

Borrani, settled in Florence in 1849, belonged to the Macchiaioli artists.