Spade and Milk

Teofilo Patini · 1883
Oil on canvas
Rome, Italy - Ministero dell’Agricoltura
LDA · XXX · MMXXV

Source
Book · Realismo e Verismo nella Pittura Italiana dell’Ottocento di Corrado Maltese · Fratelli Fabbri Editori · 1967 · p. 62

The painting presents agricultural labour and childcare as simultaneous components of daily life. The ground is dry and uneven, marked by harvested stalks and stones that signal a period of scarcity rather than growth. The mother nurses the child beside worn tools, a torn umbrella and the animals’ tack, situating care within a landscape defined by physical work and limited resources. The father, bent in the act of cultivation, forms a counterpoint of movement to the still seated figure. The composition highlights endurance, effort and survival.

Reposting welcome; please credit Libreria d’Arte - Studio Soli.

Detail
The mother nursing the child - domestic care situated directly within the space of agricultural labour

The torn umbrella - evidence of prolonged use and the scarcity of replacement goods