LEGA, Silvestro
(b. 1826, Modigliana, d. 1895, Firenze)

Country Girl Leaning against a Ladder

c. 1885
Oil on canvas, 38 x 29 cm
Galleria dell'Arte Moderna, Palazzo Pitti, Florence

A young farm girl knits while leaning on a ladder, giving the viewer the impression of a casual encounter with country life. This painting probably belongs to the last decade of the painter's life, when he was a frequent houseguest at a villa in the Tuscan countryside. Though ailing and becoming increasingly blind, the artist went on to paint the village and its local people with an eye for realistic effects.