Roman Carts

Roman Carts (Italian - Barrocci romani) is an oil-on-panel painting by the Italian artist Giovanni Fattori, painted during a stay in Rome, c. 1872–1873. It is now in the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, in the Palazzo Pitti, in Florence.

Description
Made during his stay in Rome in 1873, the canvas depicts a roadside scene in which there are four exhausted horses on a summer day. One is sitting on the ground, another has a saddle and the last two are still pulling the barroccio, a two-wheeled vehicle used for the transport of goods. There is only one man in the scene, portrayed in the background: he is the master of the horses and he is caught while he is resting, exhausted like the beasts.

In the background there is a yellowish wall calcined by the sun, seen in transversal perspective, which schematically cuts the horizon and highlights the vastness of the space. The wall, characterized by a perfect geometry, presents a great volumetric tension and being suddenly interrupted, it restores the idea of a blocked time.

From a technical point of view, the characters, described in light and uniform tones, are volumetrically highlighted by the relationship between the drawing and the brushstrokes. The scene is shown on a very intense light and the sensation that derives from it, motionless and sad, is that of suspending life during a sultry summer day.