Macchiaioli

Group of 19th-century Tuscan painters who reacted against the rule-bound art academies and looked to nature for instruction. The Macchiaioli felt that patches (macchia) of colour were the most significant aspect of painting. They believed that the effect of a painting on the spectator should derive from the painted surface itself, rather than from any ideological message or narrative. The Macchiaioli used a sketch technique to record their initial impressions of nature—often as seen from a distance—by means of colour and light. Their theory, similar to that of the French Impressionists, was even more concerned with the experimental use of colour. The most outstanding artist of the group was the Florentine Giovanni Fattori.

Find more information on Macchiaioli. Upgrade to Britannica Online for more on Macchiaioli.