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. On the other, a storm cloud threatens the left corner of the painting, while light softly illuminates her pale, gaunt face. Some imagine the entrance to the cemetery of the village of Gualtieri at the end of the avenue on the right.
Legend has it that the portrait depicts a little girl who died after falling into a cauldron of hot water. In reality, it is Alda Bianchi, the daughter of two villagers, who died of illness in 1935.
Whether reality or legend, the tragedy explains the hints of unease we see in the painting.