This work by Tranquillo Cremona, initiator of the Scapigliatura movement in the field of painting, is part of the Pietro Mortara collection, owned by the non-profit Casa Leandra Foundation of Canneto sull'Oglio, on deposit at the Diotti Museum since 2011.
The works of the Mortara collection have been integrated in the nineteenth-twentieth-century itinerary of the Museum, subdividing them according to thematic, stylistic and chronological criteria that allow them to profitably dialogue with the pre-existing works in this and the following two rooms of the Museum.
In this case, the intention was to establish an ideal genealogical line with the painting of the school of Diocletian, and with Piccio in particular, who can be considered the true predecessor of Scapigliatura. Some of the characteristic traits of this head study refer to his style, characterized by the suppression of the contours of the drawing, by the search for vaporous and soft effects, by the effort to merge the figures with the surrounding environment, along a line that would later be taken up by Medardo Rosso.
The overcoming of the academic manner, shared by Cremona with artists such as Mosè Bianchi and Daniele Ranzoni, was associated with a bohemian lifestyle that did not prevent him from having success and clients among the protagonists of the post-unification Milanese bourgeoisie.
Also on display in this room is a watercolor by Tranquillo Cremona depicting a Young Woman, also belonging to the Mortara Collection.
