1872
Oil on canvas, 35 x 50 cm
Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence
Realism became both a style as well as a conviction for Palizzi, whose aesthetic principles gave his works a sense of ethical rigor. Here a group of children are chasing a donkey down a village road. The helpless animal comes running toward the viewer while one of its pursuers has fallen into the mud. This amusing genre scene is rendered with anecdotal details illuminating different aspects of child behaviour.