Silvestro
Lega

He studied in 1848–52 at the Academy of Arts in Florence. Participant of the revolution of 1848–49. Around 1860 he joined the Macchiaioli group. He wrote mainly genre paintings, harmonious and delicate in color, with poetic gentleness telling about the life of the provincial towns of Italy (Vizit, 1868, National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome). Portraits of L. are more energetic in style (Don Giovanni Verità, 1885, the municipality of Modigliana).

Italian artist, representative of the Tuscan school. In the early 40s of the 19th century, Lega arrived in Florence and entered the Academy of Fine Arts, in the class of E. Pollastrini, at the same time engaged in the studio of L. Mussini, a fan of Ingres. In 1848-1849 he fought in the war for the independence of Italy in Tuscany and Lombardy. Returning to Florence, continued his studies at the Academy and in 1852 received a silver medal for the painting "David playing in front of Saul".

In the mid-1850s, Silvestro Lega joined the McCiaioli group, an association of young artists opposing the academic style of painting. From 1861 to 1870, they worked together in the open air in the province of Piagentina on the banks of the Arno. Lega paints landscapes, genre scenes, sketches from life, in which he is attracted by the problem of depicting the atmosphere of light and air, the picturesqueness of his native nature, and attention to the daily life of Italians (Walk in the Garden, 1862; Romantic Reading, 1864; Curiosity , 1866; "Home Concert", 1868).

After 1872, the artist stopped painting because of the sharply deteriorated vision. Silvestro Legapryat tried to create in Florence a gallery of modern art, but this idea failed. Familiarity with the works of the Impressionists moves Lega again to turn to painting. In recent years, Lega wrote mostly landscapes and genre scenes, marked by bright decorative, clear contrast ("Garden in Bellariva", 1882; "Spinner", 1885).