Antonio Ligabue a Sorrento [ENG]

Audioguide by eArs SCULPTURES Ligabue encountered sculpture even before painting, because he was immediately able to draw clay from the banks of the Po river. Especially in the early days, the artist did not bake his works, but allowed them to dry naturally, resulting in more fragile results. Few specimens remain of this production, which were only cast in bronze after his death. One of his earlie...

Audioguide by eArs LEOPARDO (LEOPARD) [1957] The theme of animal combat not only persists over time but also across different landscapes: what occurs in the countryside between Switzerland and Emilia is echoed in the exotic settings of jungles or savannahs. The Leopard enters the painting diagonally, capturing the viewer's attention primarily through the mastery of its spotted coat decoration, acc...

Audioguide by eArs TESTA DI TIGRE (TIGER'S HEAD) [1956] Can you imagine the roar of the tiger in your mind? Ligabue portrays the animal with a symmetrical elegance that echoes Art Nouveau decorations. Despite never having the opportunity to observe such animals firsthand, he never relied on preparatory drawings or sketches, even when depicting subjects so unusual for his everyday life. It's as if...

Audioguide by eArs LEOPARDO SULLA ROCCIA (LEOPARD ON A ROCK) [1960] Here, Ligabue abandons the animal fight theme for the moment to depict a Leopard in a majestic leap, in a luminous and elegant oil painting. Alongside the rural landscapes that blend the countryside of Emilia with the panoramas of Switzerland, Ligabue's paintings also present glimpses of wild and exotic nature, inhabited by tigers...

Audioguide by eArs AUTORITRATTO (SELF-PORTRAIT) [1959] The thinning hair and greying tones indicate that the painting can be placed in the last years of the painter's career. However, one thing remains constant over time: the pose. If you've noticed, it always remains the same. Ligabue paints himself in a three-quarter profile, with his gaze directed towards his right, as if he were looking into a...

Audioguide by eArs AUTORITRATTO (SELF-PORTRAIT) [1954] The self-portrait is one of Ligabue's most frequently painted subjects. While paintings with animal or natural themes may allude to the emotions and impulses running through the painter's consciousness, in his self-portraits, Ligabue confronts us more directly. In the imperfections of this face, which he outlines almost mercilessly, we can dis...

Audioguide by eArs AUTORITRATTO (SELF-PORTRAIT) [1957] Some people, when they start writing on a sheet of paper, realise towards the end of the sentence that they're running out of space. They then hurriedly adjust their handwriting to fit it all in. In this painting, and in other works by Ligabue, something similar likely occurred. In all his self-portraits, he always started with the eye, buildi...

Audioguide by eArs RITRATTO DI ELBA (PORTRAIT OF ELBA) [1935] While in his natural landscapes human figures seem to be more simplified, in portraits Ligabue depicts human figures without simplification, with the same care as for animals in the other works. Elba's portrait juxtaposes idyll and a sombre note. On one hand, we see a little girl in a colourful dress with wildflowers in the background....

Audioguide by eArs CACCIA AL CERVO (DEER HUNTING) [1945] This painting dates back to the period when Ligabue was interned for the third time in the psychiatric hospital in Reggio Emilia. The Deer Hunt is probably a familiar image to you. It's a stereotype: a motif you may have seen before in a picture, engraving, illustration, or on an ornament.. Ligabue uses stereotypes in many of his works. Howe...

Audioguide by eArs FATTORIA (FARM) [1954] If, after spending your entire youth in your homeland, you were forced to live in a totally different - sometimes almost hostile - place, what would you see when you looked at the horizon? Ligabue saw Switzerland, where he was born and from which he was expelled at the age of 19 with no possibility of returning. This is why the landscapes in his paintings...

Audioguide by eArs CAVALLI ALL’ARATRO (HORSES AT THE PLOUGH) [1952] While in the sow the subject was singular and in the ploughing the various characters were essentially independent of each other, here the scene directly involves all the protagonists, creating a particularly dramatic and dynamic overall effect. The theme of the bolting horses allows Ligabue to express emotions of great intensity...

Audioguide by eArs ARATURA (PLOUGHING) [1934]  Compared to the previous painting, the sow, in this ploughing we can see  new elements that reveal the gradual development of a painter. The oxen, in particular, are depicted with notable complexity. They are no longer just horizontal silhouettes but are positioned with a sense of perspective. The careful representation of these animals contrasts shar...

Audioguide by eArs SCROFA (SOW) [1930] The Scrofa is one of Antonio Ligabue's earliest oil paintings. These were the years when Ligabue began to familiarise himself with this technique after meeting Marino Renato Mazzacurati from the Roman school. He was often resistant to taking Mazzacurati's advice and preferred to learn by observing him work in his studio. You can tell this is a youthful work f...