SILVIO BICCHI (Livorno 1874 - 1948 Florence)
The Horror of Earthquakes or War
charcoal. about 191/4 x 151/4" (490 x 385mm) signed l/l: S Bicchi
Provenance: private collection
This compelling image was probably made as a presentation drawing. The design may have been intended for magazine cover or a book plate. The artist has set his composition within a Liberty style frame of his own devising. Liberty is what the Italians called Art Nouveau which flourished throughout Europe between 1890 and 1910. The frame looks as if it ought to be made of silver as it curves naturalistically around the images contours. Central to its design is the monumental head of a grieving female. She has much to grieve for; men make wars and earthquakes can wreak as much harm. Amidst ruins, an injured man is carried off to receive care. This work also speaks of the readiness of men to come to the rescue of the fallen; it is a grievous yet heroic scene. It would have been an early work of Bicchi's, and may have commemorated the fallen during the Italian Revolution, or Risorgimento which lasted for decades in the 19th century. There were also major earthquakes in Italy in 1905, 1908, and 1915. The one in 1908 was responsible for at least 72,000 deaths. Centered in Messina, it decimated populations in Reggio Calabria as well as Sicily.
Bicchi was a pupil and friend of Giovanni Fattori. Early in his career, he illustrated some of the works of Dante for Vittorio Alinari.1 He became a distinguished history painter and also enjoyed depicting modern life, as well as being an animalier. He painted in fresco and in oil. Bicchi travelled to Paris, London and America.