Ruggero Panerai and Giovanni Fattori

Ruggero Panerai was born in Florence in 1862 and died in Paris in 1923. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence from 1877 to 1881 and later entered the studio of Giovanni Fattori, whose influence was decisive for his early development.

Fattori directed Panerai towards subjects connected with the Maremma, military life and contemporary scenes. Panerai, however, soon enriched this language with a more naturalistic sensibility and a rapid, luminous handling of paint.

During the 1880s he developed a lively pictorial style based on direct observation and modern compositional viewpoints.

The Maremma and animal painting

The Maremma became one of the central subjects of Panerai’s work.

He found in its landscape a rich repertoire of horsemen, horses, cattle and open countryside. These subjects allowed him to combine naturalistic observation with narrative intensity.

In 1887 he won the Fumagalli Prize with Il cavallo malato, now in the Gallery of Modern Art at Palazzo Pitti. This painting reveals his particular sensitivity as an animal painter and his ability to explore the relationship between humans, animals and landscape.

The following year he exhibited Mazeppa, a large composition centred on a group of horses. The work contributed to his reputation and led to his appointment as professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna.

Previously presented work by Ruggero Panerai

Egidi MadeinItaly previously presented Cavalli by Ruggero Panerai, a work that is no longer available. The painting belongs to the artist’s distinctive exploration of horses and animal subjects

Horses, butteri and rural life

Horses became one of the most distinctive subjects in Panerai’s work.

He painted them at pasture, crossing rivers, during military exercises and alongside the butteri of the Maremma.

Works such as Cavalli maremmani, Butteri in Maremma and Cavalli al pascolo demonstrate the continuity of this interest.

These images are more than simple animal subjects. Through the relationship between figures, animals and landscape, Panerai created vivid representations of rural Tuscan life.

Later years

After 1890 Panerai also devoted himself to genre painting and eighteenth-century subjects. In his later years, however, he returned to landscapes and animal subjects with a more synthetic and abbreviated style.

He died in Paris in 1923. A substantial group of his drawings is preserved in the Uffizi collections in Florence.

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