Museo Civico Giovanni Fattori

Livorno


The highlight of a visit here is the 19th-century building. Known as Villa Mimbelli, it has an ornately decorated interior featuring an extraordinary staircase with balustrades in the form of naked cherubs. Works in the collection include a few medieval and Renaissance pieces, but the main focus is on works by the 19th-century Italian Impressionist Macchiaioli school led by Livorno-born Giovanni Fattori (1825–1908). Artists in this group worked directly from nature, emphasising naturalness through patches, or macchia (stains) of colour.

There are works by Fattori, Enrico Pollastrini (1817–76), Giovanni Boldini (1842–1931), Adolfo Tommasi (1851–1933) and Cesare Bartolena (1830–1903). There is also one small painting by Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920).