The painting shows two children surrounded by plants and flowers. The girl is standing in the front, on the right side of the painting. She is wearing a pink dress and a red cape. She is holding a small flower near her face and looking towards the viewer. This makes her the first thing we notice in the painting. The boy is standing behind her and is almost hidden by the leaves. We can mainly see his face and upper body.
Most of the painting is covered in dark green shades because of the thick plants and trees. This makes the faces of the children stand out more clearly. The red cape of the girl also adds some brightness to the otherwise dark background. The brushwork is quite loose, and the artist has not painted everything with sharp details. The leaves, clothes and figures sometimes seem to mix into each other. I think this gives the painting a soft and slightly dreamy appearance.
The painting was made by Tranquillo Cremona in the second half of the nineteenth century. It is believed to show Margherita and Luigi Villa, the children of Carlo Villa, who was a friend and collector of Cremona's works. The painting was first exhibited in 1871 under the title Schizzo dal vero, meaning “Life Sketch.”
I like this painting because it does not feel like a formal portrait. It looks more like a simple moment of childhood captured in a natural setting. The soft light and quick brushstrokes make the scene feel lively and personal. Overall, Cremona has combined portrait painting with a free and natural style.
Tranquillo Cremona’s Schizzo dal vero (1871) is an engaging example of the late nineteenth-century Scapigliatura tendency to move beyond conventional academic portraiture. The painting presents two children within dense vegetation, transforming a seemingly ordinary childhood scene into an atmospheric study of colour, light, and movement. The girl’s red cape immediately attracts attention against the predominantly dark green foliage, while her gesture of holding a small flower introduces a gentle, intimate quality. The partially concealed boy creates an intriguing sense of depth and spontaneity. Cremona’s loose, rapidly applied brushwork is particularly important: figures, clothing, flowers, and foliage appear to dissolve into one another, replacing precise contour with an almost impressionistic visual effect. The dark, densely worked vegetation contrasts effectively with the illuminated faces, giving the composition a dreamy and somewhat mysterious mood. Rather than presenting the children as formally posed sitters, Cremona captures them as part of a fleeting moment in nature. The work therefore combines portraiture with remarkable atmospheric and painterly freedom.
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By: DEBARGHA BHATTACHARYYA
The artwork is a classic example of "scapigliatura", an artistic movement that emerged in Milan and Lombardy, Italy, between 1860 and 1870. The movement, unlike conventional portraits, is characterised by loose brushwork, broken contours, undefined-looking surfaces and revolves around everyday scenes. The movement was popular among the young artists as they grew dissatisfied with the established artistic standards of the bourgeoisie. A truly commendable feature of the painting is the depiction of the emotions of the children. The painting directly reminds us of our carefree childhood, which now only remains in memories. Furthermore, the way the artist used his loose brushwork to show nature, which is almost mixed in the clothes and the figures, depicts how nature, unlike humans, cannot be trapped through conventional means.
