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 from at least two characteristics. First is the choice of support: not a classic canvas, the tool of an established painter, but simple plywood, which is cheaper and easier to find. Second is the way the subject is treated: with realistic attention but in a simplified, stiff, profile pose, almost like an illustrated silhouette in a children's book. Despite the minimal surrounding scene, there is a note of drama added by the large black shadow cast at the pig's feet.