The Macchiaioli Method

 The paintings below by Antonio Mancini are excellent examples of the Macchiaioli method of painting, which I will be discussing in the next term of painting at the Freehand School of Art.

Unlike the impressionists to whom they are sometimes compared, the Macchiaioli painters, such as Mancini, used exaggerated light and dark contrasts to describe the effects of light.

Because pigments can rarely match the range of contrast between light and dark within a scene, the juxtaposition of values should be emphasized to mirror the contrasts found in nature.

Blending colour reduces the contrast and range of lights and darks. Most Macchiaioli painters tended to avoid blending edges, using instead the rugged or stippled edges of the macchie di colore ("splashes of color") to connect forms.

The Macchiaioli also used broken colour and colour variations in the shadows to create contrasts when value changes were not possible. When closely observed, these colour variations created stunning naturalistic effects, as in the paintings shown here.

Many thanks to Roberta Piemonte and James Gavin for sharing these images on Facebook!